Press Release
February 5, 2009

CHIZ TO DIG DEEPER INTO WB BLACKLIST MESS;
sets committee hearing on Feb. 17

MANILA -- Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero said Thursday he will dig deeper into the alleged collusion among Filipino contractors in a World Bank road project when he begins hearings to tighten safeguards in the government's procurement system.

In a statement sent from Washington, Escudero said as chair of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision on Codes and Laws he has scheduled the committee's first hearing on Feb. 17.

"The controversy over the alleged rigging of bids for the World Bank's road projects shows us what the investigations into the ZTE deal and Cyber Education has led us to - that we need to have more transparency and accountability in the government procurement system. Only an open system will allow that," he said.

Escudero said the WB report of irregularities in the bidding of road projects in the country shows serious flaws in Republic Act (RA) 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

"To avoid the practice of what the World Bank has already called a major cartel, discretion of procurement agencies should be lessened and observers should be invited to participate in the bidding process," he said.

The WB blacklisted four Filipino contractors which bidded for contracts under Phase One of the National Roads Improvement and Management Program, known as NRIMP 1, last year.

Of the four firms, E.C. de Luna Construction Corp. and its owner, Eduardo de Luna, were permanently barred from doing business with the multilateral institution.

The Bank said that it stopped the disbursement of US$33 million to the sanctioned firms after "suspicions of collusion were raised" following an internal probe early last year.

Escudero is scheduled to speak Friday evening before the World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund Filipino Staff Association at the IMF auditorium in Washington D.C.

During the two-hour meeting, the opposition senator will touch on the "Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Philippines: Practical Solutions to Weather the Storm." The senator is in Washington to attend the 57th National Prayer Breakfast which will have US President Barack Obama as its main speaker. He will return to Manila on February 9.

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