Foreign loan rules upheld: agency

FINANCE Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven has reiterated that the Philippine government continues to uphold strict standards in dealing with foreign lenders for the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program.

Joven made this assurance in response to a statement made by Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos

Isagani Zarate in which the latter erroneously claimed that the loan agreements for the Kaliwa Dam and Chico River Pump Irrigation Projects contain “onerous” provisions and, hence--like the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) concession agreements—should be reviewed by Malacañang.

Debunking the opposition solon’s charge, Joven explained that the basic structure of the water concession agreements, which are essentially public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, is very different from the official development assistance (ODA) financing agreements entered into by the Government with countries such as China, Japan, France and Korea, which are covered by international law.

“There is also a difference when it comes to the parties to these agreements,” he said. “The water concession agreements refer to the Philippine Government vis-à-vis Filipino corporations, while ODA financing agreements are between the Philippines and other sovereign entities such as countries and multilateral lenders like the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“We have had long public discussions on this matter already. We published all the loan agreements we have signed for the ‘Build, Build, Build’ flagship infrastructure projects on our website last year. We once again encourage the critics to closely scrutinize the documents for themselves in order for us to have an accurate conversation about the matter,” he stated.