{"id":242979,"date":"2020-01-23T20:45:22","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T01:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=242979"},"modified":"2020-01-23T20:45:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T01:45:22","slug":"investors-need-not-worry-over-public-private-deals-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/23\/investors-need-not-worry-over-public-private-deals-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors need not worry over public-private deals\u2019 review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an interview with Palace reporters, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo reiterated that the review of present deals between the government and private firms are advantageous to Filipinos. (File Photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— There was no need for investors in the country to be \u201cafraid\u201d of President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s directive to conduct a review of the existing public service contracts with private companies, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Palace reporters, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo reiterated that the review of present deals between the government and private firms are advantageous to Filipinos.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny pronouncement that says the government will examine, evaluate or review onerous contracts is not something that businessmen should be afraid of. Because it is the duty of the government precisely to protect the interest of the Filipino people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing to worry on the part of the businessmen, whether foreign or locals, because the government will not be reckless to step into any contract that is not contrary to law,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Duterte was prompted to order the thorough scrutiny of numerous existing government contracts with the private sector following the discovery of the government\u2019s supposedly \u201conerous\u201d water deal with Manila Water and Maynilad.<\/p>\n

Earlier Thursday, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the review of the government\u2019s existing deals with private companies should be a \u201cdelicate balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NEDA made the remarks as it said the government\u2019s latest move has raised worry from the business sector and some credit rating agencies.<\/p>\n

Panelo ensured that \u201ceverything is being considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also guaranteed that Duterte would respect the \u201csanctity\u201d of the contracts, except if these apparently violate the law and disregard public interest and public policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me allay the fears of foreign investors, as well as Filipino businessmen. You don\u2019t have to worry about the review kasi (because) if there\u2019s nothing wrong with your contracts, there\u2019s nothing to worry about,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President will certainly respect the sanctity of contracts, except only when from the very provisions, it appears to be contrary to law, contrary to public interest and public policy. Otherwise,\u00a0ganun pa rin yan<\/em>\u00a0(nothing has changed),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

To date, Duterte is focused on addressing the \u201conerous\u201d provisions in the government\u2019s concession agreements with Manila Water and Maynilad.<\/p>\n

Duterte early this year said Manila Water and Maynilad can only choose between accepting the new water contracts crafted by his administration or face cancellation of their present deals.<\/p>\n

Duterte also announced on Jan. 17 that state-run Light Rail Transit Authority\u2019s existing contract with the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) will also be subject to review after he learned that Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Manuel V. Pangilinan also have key roles in its operations.<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Panelo said the Chief Executive also sees the need to conduct a review of Ayala Land Inc.\u2019s 25-year agreement with state-owned University of the Philippines for the rental of Technohub property in Diliman, Quezon City.<\/p>\n

\u201cSabi niya<\/em>\u00a0(Duterte),\u00a0kailangan talagang pag-aralan yan<\/em>\u00a0(He said there was really a need to review that),\u201d the Palace official said. \u201cIre<\/em>-review\u00a0mo lang naman eh<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s just a review). We will just make an opinion about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s latest pronouncement came following the recommendation of Panelo.<\/p>\n

Panelo earlier bared that Ayala Land has been paying only PHP20 per square meter in monthly rentals to the UP.<\/p>\n

Early this month, Duterte promised to rectify government contracts with private firms that would be found detrimental to the Filipino people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— There was no need for investors in the country to be \u201cafraid\u201d of President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s directive to conduct …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":207213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242980,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242979\/revisions\/242980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}