by Roel Landingin
RAPID economic growth in recent years, perhaps one of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s few and widely acknowledged achievements amid the steady slide in her popularity ratings, could turn out to be as debatable as her devotion to good governance and anti-corruption.
As Arroyo delivers her ninth and presumably last state of the nation address on Monday, she is again expected to highlight her past economic achievements – even as the economy is poised to either shrink for the first time since 1998 or grow at its slowest in at least seven years. Already, gross domestic product, a measure of economic output, dropped by 2.3 percent in the first quarter from the previous period.
by Tita C. Valderama
HER HANDLERS portray her as a hardworking president, but after eight years in power, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is looking more like being long on show and short on substance.
Indeed, while critics and observers alike acknowledge specific successes by her administration, they point out that more fundamental concerns were neglected in the pursuit of achieving these.
by Roel Landingin
MORE THAN just a “take-or-pay” stricture, the P52-billion joint venture deal between the state-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and food-beverage giant San Miguel Corporation will require the Philippine government to issue a “performance undertaking,” a form of state commitment that the Arroyo administration has generally been wary of giving away.
A performance undertaking is a guarantee issued by the Republic that the state agency involved in a project will comply with all its obligations to the contractor, typically a private company.
Video
by Ed Lingao
MWSS officials address the apparent haste in the tender of the Laiban dam project.
Confident about ‘confidential’ deal?
by Ed Lingao and Jaemark Tordecilla
SAN ANDRES, Tanay, Rizal – We were wondering why Sofia de la Rosa seemed a little agitated with our presence. After all, it’s not every day that visitors bother to come to this remote barangay nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Madre range.
In the course of our conversation, the barangay captain of San Andres also kept telling us that her people will not leave this village unless they are paid proper compensation by San Miguel.
Deal with San Miguel confidential?
by Roel Landingin
THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) could be exposing itself and the government to undue financial risks under a negotiated deal with San Miguel Corporation to build the P52-billion Laiban dam. But the state agency tasked to evaluate the soundness of large-scale infrastructure projects has been unable to come to the aid of the MWSS – which may not even welcome such in the first place.
Like the rest of the public, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has been kept in the dark regarding the details of the proposed joint-venture agreement.
Sidebar
by Karol Ilagan
FOR a regulatory agency, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) seems given to secrecy, even when it is now bidding the biggest project of its 131-year existence. Check out the PCIJ’s coverage of the Laiban dam project: MWSS: Laiban deal with SMC ‘may or may not be best option’ Video: MWSS officials address Laiban […]
Video
by Ed Lingao
The Lematin River forms the western arm of the proposed Laiban Dam watershed and reservoir. This river supports seven of the eight barangays that will be submerged when the dam project finally pushes through.
Laiban dam a template?
by Roel Landingin
Last of Two Parts The first part of this report reveals how secrecy and precipitate haste mark the tender by the state-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the P52-billion Liban Dam project in Tanay, Rizal. THE PROPOSED joint-venture deal between San Miguel Corporation and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to build […]
Photo essay
by Nonoy Espina
It has been almost a year since fighting broke out between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front after the Supreme Court struck down the Memorandum Agreement on Ancestral Domain. While the story of the continued fighting still makes headlines, the story of the refugees who fled the fighting has been dropped from the frontpages and the line-ups of the major newscasts.
