Zubiri: Shun Chinese contractors in public infra projects

FILE: Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri (Photo: Bibo Nueva España/ Senate PRIB via Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has urged the government not to award big-ticket infrastructure projects funded with Filipino taxpayers’ money to Chinese contractors and state-owned companies as their income would only be used to fund China’s bullying tactics in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“Bakit naman iyung mga buwis pa ng mga kababayan nating Pilipino ang gagamitin para ipambayad dito sa mga state-owned companies? Tapos ‘yong income po niyan, babalik po sa Tsina, gagamitin ng Tsina pambayad doon sa kanilang navy at coast guard na nangha-harass po sa atin dito (Why would we use Filipino taxpayers’ money to pay these state-owned companies? Then their income would go to China which uses them to pay their Navy and Coast Guard to harass us here). That is not right,” Zubiri said in a radio interview on Thursday night.

He said infrastructure projects should be given instead to “friendly” countries like Japan and Korea which have been providing development aid to the Philippines under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), respectively.

“Ibigay nalang po natin yan sa mga kapitbahay natin na mahal tayo, na kaibigan natin na tumutulong sa atin. Napakalaking foreign development aid ang ibinibigay ng Japan at South Korea dito sa Pilipinas (We might as well give these projects to our neighbors who love us, to our friends who are helping us. South Korea and Japan are providing us with big foreign development aid)” Zubiri said.

He also called on the Philippine government to build strong trade partnerships with other countries in view of his earlier suggestion to boycott Chinese products and companies in the Philippines as a sign of protest against China’s continued harassment in Philippine waters.

He pointed out that like Vietnam, the Philippines can execute trade agreements with other countries or enhance existing ones to compensate for Chinese products coming into the country.

He also urged Filipinos “to patronize locally produced agricultural products” – like onions and garlic from Ilocos Norte and other provinces, and vegetables from Cordillera, Bukidnon and the Visayas.

Zubiri however admitted that China has become our number one trade partner, but nevertheless remains optimistic that this can be overcome with the establishment of partnership with other neighboring countries and our entry to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

According to available data, the value of Philippine exports to China stands at USD15.1 billion or PHP830.5 billion, comprising 16 percent of the country’s total exports.

The value of imports, meanwhile, is pegged at USD48.9 billion or PHP2.7 trillion, or 33.8 percent of the total imports. This means that the Philippines has a trade imbalance of USD33.8 billion in favor of China.

The Senate President has been very vocal in condemning China’s continued intrusion into Philippine territory, particularly the recent incident where Chinese Coast Guard vessels trailed, blocked and then trained water cannons at the Philippine Coast Guard on a supply run to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.