Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

South Rail project must be scrutinized

The questionable practice of lender countries selecting the contractors for projects of the Philippine government which they are helping to fund had once again reared its ugly head in the P2.72 billion South Rail Project.

It is only proper that Finance Secretary Margarito Teves had gone out of his way to ask the Department of Justice for a legal opinion on the project and its funding by China, including the latter's selection of the China National Technical Imports and Export Corporation as contractor.

Government projects must be bidded out to ensure transparency, to afford the Philippines the least possible cost, and to make sure that no laws are being violated.