PRESIDENT Aquino said on Monday his administration would pursue a broadband-network project but, this time, it would be entirely different from the botched deal that the previous administration almost sealed with Chinese state firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications (ZTE) Corp.
In reaction, a former official of the National Economic and Development Authority stressed that transparency and accountability, including open debates, were key to fully implementing the project.
“There is a need for a [national] broadband project” the President said in an interview. “[But] reviving something similar to the ZTE [project], no way.”
He said the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) was drawing up a plan and conducting an inventory on “what we have as the basis for the broadband network.”
He also said: “If there is need to engage the telcos—which was my position—they are already ready as far as a broadband is concerned.”
He said the DOST reported to him the glaring flaws of the national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE project and that it would have been “obsolete” by the time it was to have been set up.
The DOST was earlier reported to be pushing for an P800-million government broadband project—much less than the $329-million contract the Arroyo administration had with ZTE. But this, too, was later canceled after the project was severely criticized.
Gilberto Llanto, a former Neda official, said it would take more than the availability of funds to ensure the success of the revival of controversial projects like the NBN—as well as the proposed redesign of the Northern Luzon Railway (NorthRail).
Llanto, current senior research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said ensuring transparency and accountability was key to the full implementation of these projects.
“It comes to a policy decision by the government but before committing to anything, the government should disclose the terms and conditions so that these may be open to debate. [There is a] need for informed judgment. [It’s] not just a matter of whether financing will be made available,” Llanto told the BusinessMirror.
One way to ensure transparency and accountability is for these projects to be submitted for competitive bidding, whether these projects will be financed through Chinese official development assistance (ODA) or investment via the public-private partnership route, he said.
This process may be guaranteed, he said, if there is a public consultation done even before the projects are resubmitted for evaluation of the interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).
According to the Neda officials, even if the projects have been approved by the ICC, given that the approval of the projects has lapsed, it is mandatory to re-enter the ICC process.
“Concerned citizens [should] contribute to the discussion [and] give comments. It will be too late if [this is] done after the ICC process. The default should be competitive bidding,” Llanto said.
The Arroyo administration was forced to cancel the $329-million NBN project, which was supposed to be undertaken by ZTE in 2008.
The project was proposed for funding through a bilateral loan from China. Bilateral loans are tied loans wherein contractors to be chosen to undertake projects are supplied by the donor country.
The NorthRail, on the other hand, is one of the 16 ODA projects with low disbursement rates. The project had a $400-million net commitment and implemented by the Philippine National Railways.
The latest data from the Neda’s ODA portfolio review showed that the project only disbursed $16.69 million out of its $180.59-million target for the year due to contract-suspension issues.
