THE PHILIPPINE STAR

THURSDAY I APRIL 11, 2019

SC to Palace: Answerpetition
on Chico River loan agreement
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BACL|IO CITY - The Supreme Court The petition que"stioned the loan deal of 80 percent of its ;il produce after it
(SC) yesterday ordered the e\ecutive whereiir rhe Philippines slands to lose defaulied on a Chinese l,oan for irs Coca
branch. to answer a petition.of militant naturdl gas deposiijin Recto (Reed) Bank Codo Hydro Dam. Theyalso cited the case
lawmakers to strike down the govem- as a colliteral in case of loan default. of Sri L;nka which surrendered to China
ment's $62-million loan agre_eme_nt with pedtioners alteged that the agreement the control of its Hambantota pott also
Chi nl for the Chi yisl61ss severd pdvisions of the iggTcon- afler failing to pay its loan.
co River irrigation stjhrtion as it cinLains an express waiver I 'Cotttt"nit"r i"jr joined by Bayan Muna
pump project in the of sovereign imrnunity over ihe country's Rep. Carlos Zar:rte, Anakp;wis ilep. fuiel
Cordillera region. patrimoniiJ assets in fivor of China. Caiilao, Gabriela Reps. Emmy de Jesus
Tn summer s9s- They said the contract specifically vio- and Arlene Brosas, ACI Teachers Reps.
sion, justices d-e- htes Articte xl, Section 2 bt the charter Antonio Tinio and Francisca Castro and
cided to require th! wfuch reads: "A1l lands of the plblic do Kabataan Rep. Smah Jane Elago in filing
Palace and several n-t"in, waters, minerals, coal, oetroleum the petition.

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on the petitign filed flotu"#d fu,-u and othernaturallgsources Meanwhile, debt watchdog Freedom
last week by party- are owned by the State. \,Vith the exception from Debt Coalition (FDC) iicaling on
list lawmaki:rs froin of agriJh;al f;as, a1 othet,naturil re- the Duterte adminiskation to reconsider
militant groups un- souries shall not be iienated. The explora- the China-fundeJ Chico River project
der the Makabayan dory developmentand uritiz2[sn o{ nitural as well as the planned construc'tion of
bloc led by senato- rg5eur6gs shall be under the fulI contol and the P18.7-binioi Kaliwa Dam in Quezon
rial candidate Neri
5upsrvi5161 of the State.,, province.
Colmenares.seek- They said the assailed provlsions of the ' At a press conference in Quezon
ing to nullify t!." ug."**"nt also violate .4hicle-Il. Section City yestlrday, officials of the FDC said
loan agreement for 7"of the Constitutiorr which states: '1lhe thai lside fr6m the potential massive
being unconstitu- State shallpursue an independent foreign destruction of the rith biodiversity in
tional policy. In its relations #th other stai'es the proposed proiect sites as we aJ the
The Courtgave ihe faramount consideration shall be dispiaciment it inaigeno"" g.o"p", tn"
respondents - Exec- national sovereignty, territodal inte8rity, mega projects also dpen thJ corintry's
utive Secretary Sal- national interes"t a;d the right to-seli_ assits ind'resources to seizure by Chiira.
vador Medialdea, determination FDC president Rene ofreneo shd their
Finance Secretaly Colmenares and company further group's'review of both Ioan aqreements
Carlos Dominguez stressed that this constitutiirnaiprovision ieveiled questionable proviiions that
III, National Eco- was viehlgd by the,,choice of Cliina Inter- endanger 'the ehilippines, sovereignty
nomic and Devel- national Economic and Trade Arbitration over itJassets.
opment Author- Commission (CIETAC) as tribunal and the Ofreneo said Section 8.1 of both loan
ity head Ernesto choice of Chinese law as the goveminq contracts states that in the event of arbitra-
Pernia and-]ustice law of the agreement.,, tion, the'philippine goverrunent ,,irrevo-
S_es€tary Menardo tetitioneis tikewise assailed the confi- cably waives i'nimurity on the grounds of
Cuevarra * 10 days dentialiw clause in the agreement, which sovdreignty" over its assets
from receiPt of ng- they said was "a brazen?isregad of the or asse6 d'edicated to 'patrimoinial
dommercial use."
{ceto comply with constituiional right of the Filipino people Section8.4 of both loan contracts, Ofre-
the order, accordilg to information o--n foreign loairs obiained neo said, also states that the agreement
to SC spokeskran or guaranteed by the govemment and is itself and the rights and obligations of
Bdar. Hoealg-. considered inimical to the national inter- both parties "shall be govemed by and
Preqiddntial est" under Article Xtr, Section 21 of the construed in accordanie with the laws
spokesm'a n S al - 'Constitution. of China."
vidor Panelo said. The group added that the contract Hesaid these are all on top of the China
they would comply violated the cpnstitutiona I p reference for loans' higher interest rate of two percent
I with *re SC order qualified Filipinos and existing procure- - as compared to the 0.25 percent to 0.75
The SC opted hent laws. percent being offered by Japan - in addi-
not to immediately Lastly, they claimed that the loan agree- tion to comrnitment fee of 0.3 percent and
ru1e on the plea of ment violated Article VII, Section 20 of management fee of 0.3 percent.
petitioners for issu- the CL.nstiiutiory which requires prior - fuith Etizabeth M^arcelo, Christina
ance of a temporary approval by the Monetary Board. Mendez
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