‘Aquino trip well worth the goodwill’

Senator Joker Arroyo said Saunday President Aquino’s five-day visit to China was salient not for the billion-dollar investment pledges and aid promised, but for the goodwill it earned.

“Considering that we encountered some problems with the Chinese, like the hostage drama and the Spratlys issue, if only for that, the trip was well worth it,” Arroyo said in a phone interview.

The senator put a damper on Malacañang’s attempt to play up the $13-billion worth of actual and planned deals with Chinese investors that the country would receive as a result of Mr. Aquino’s visit.

“Until now, the Chinese side has not announced anything, not the cost nor the nature of these investments.  We should just disregard that. But the reception that the President received was very warm despite the problems that came before the visit. That is more important,” Arroyo said.

The senator said not even experts could give a time frame for the Philippines’ reaping of the benefits from the investments.

“China is the giver and the Philippines is the receiver. We cannot rush them.  We have to take it in stride.  Let’s hope China will fulfill its pledges,” he said.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., for his part, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer the Aquino administration should renegotiate rather than rebid the North Luzon Railways (NorthRail) project in order not to ruffle China’s feathers.

“We should renegotiate with China. Rebidding takes too long and will be resented by China,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte was referring to an earlier statement by Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao wherein the latter appealed to President Aquino to revive the NorthRail project since it would have a significant impact on the country’s transportation sector.

NorthRail, envisaged as a rail service between Caloocan City and Mabalacat, Pampanga, 15 kilometers from Clark, was one of the flagship projects of the Arroyo administration that had been placed under review by President Aquino, citing its bloated contract price and questions on how it was awarded to the private sector.

The project was financed with a loan from the China Export-Import Bank which the government continues to pay for even after the project had been put on hold.

Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II had proposed during the recent trip of President Aquino to have the contract with the state-owned China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. shelved, as he planned to overhaul the entire railway design to link the Clark international airport with the Makati central business district.

Roxas also wanted to have the redesigned NorthRail project auctioned off.