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PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Saturday night
that the $460-million cyber education project (CEP),
which she has indefinitely suspended, would be pursued
once the special panel reviewing China-funded projects
in the country ensures that it would not be entangled in
any controversy.
The
President made the statement in her arrival statement,
provided to reporters a couple of hours after she landed
in Manila late Saturday night from a five-day trip to
China
and India.
“The
China Projects Oversight Panel should now begin working
out procedures to protect the cyber education project
from unnecessary controversy, so that world-class ICT
would reach 4th- to 6th-class municipalities and the
least-endowed schools,” she said.
The CEP,
to be undertaken in cooperation with a Chinese firm, is
envisioned to bridge the learning gap between urban and
rural schools through satellite technology to beam
televised lectures to students and teachers in 37,794
public schools in the next three years.
The
President had created the special panel chaired by Trade
Secretary Peter Favila to keep the concerned projects
from going the way of the ZTE broadband deal, which the
Chief Executive had scrapped amid allegations of bribery
and irregularities.
Presidential Management Staff head Cerge Remonde earlier
said the Favila panel was created to ensure that
requirements of transparency in the concerned projects
“would be to the satisfaction of everybody concerned.”
In her
statement, the President reiterated her disappointment
with the cancellation of the national broadband network
(NBN) project—saying it was estimated to save the
government P3 billion a year in savings from
telecommunications requirements.
Mrs.
Arroyo reiterated her instruction to Transportation
Secretary Leandro Mendoza to discuss with private
telecommunication firms how the government can still cut
its phone, fax and online expenses in the absence of an
NBN project so that savings can be spent on her
socioeconomic program.
“And
once again we urge the private sector to fill the gaps
in telecommunication facilities and services, especially
in depressed areas. Whether government or business, we
must invest in digital infrastructure to link the entire
country all the way to the poorest villages,” the
President said.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo said she had accomplished the
goals of her working trip to China and her state visit
to India, having “further strengthened” bilateral ties
with the former and placing the Philippines on the
investment radar screen of the latter.
Arriving
late Saturday night, she said her two-day working visit
to China led “to concrete investments prospects” from
“some of the wealthiest businessmen of China” but the
government will only “make the appropriate announcements
when their plans are ready for disclosure.”
Mrs.
Arroyo said that her move to personally explain to
Chinese President Hu Jintao her decision to cancel the
ZTE national broadband deal, which the Chinese leader
“understood”, had helped fortify ties with the world’s
fastest-growing economy.
She said
that her four-day state visit to India “increased the
economic potential of our ties with India” as it was
highlighted by the “commitment” of Global Steel of
Mittal to invest $1.6 billion for an integrated steel
mill in Iligan City, and of leading Bollywood producer
Aditya Taj Kapoor to shoot a film in the Philippines.
In
India, she also “addressed urgent concerns over the
situation in Myanmar. We carried this message as part of
the global community of persons who see tolerance,
restraint and consensus building as the indispensable
first steps toward a great future for Myanmar and its
people.” |
