TUNGKOL sa SOUTHRAIL

Recent events in the country were desecrated with scandalous reports of cases of corruption concerning high-ranking government officials resulting to public agitation manifested in a number of mass actions participated in by various sectors of society.

Most recently, the country was shaken by the NBN ZTE controversy- the populace ablazed anew by the testimony of Rodolfo Noel Lozada in the Senate who corroborated the purported $130 million overprice in the said project, further alleging a 22% overprice in all government projects, which he claimed was the standard operating procedure in government to payoff public officials, contrary to law.

During the Senate investigation, Lozada mentioned another project entered into by the government which was grossly overpriced: the Southrail project.

According to Lozada, the Southrail Project stinks of corruption worth $70 million, which is abominable especially in the face of the national government’s constraints in the budget, while the entire populace suffers in dire poverty and shrinking allocation for social services, particularly for health and education.

In the pursuit of honesty, integrity, and transparency in public service, Senate investigation into the matter is compelling. It is after all the Senate’s mandate to check the executive branch of its excesses and to legislate remedial measures, if necessary.

With the above end in view, a copy of the MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL RAILWAYS (PNR) AND CHINA NATIONAL TECHNICAL IMPORT-EXPORT COOPERATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTHRAIL PROJECT signed on 27 April 2005, was requested from PNR General Manager Jose Ma. I. Sarasola II. Communication was sent to PNR General Manager Sarasola for the purpose, to which Sarasola unconvincingly denied capacity to produce the document.

The document being requested is a matter of public concern which our Constitution guarantees the people to have access to as promulgated in Article II which clearly states that:

Section 27. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption.

Section 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

To tolerate this denial is to tolerate purported corrupt acts.

The Senate must rise to the challenge of the time, assert its authority to look into scrupulous government dealings and at all times uphold its mandate.

>> bakit ba hindi pinaniwalaan si Hesus na siya ang Messiah?
At bakit patuloy tayong naniniwala sa ganitong mga denials kung pwede namang sagutin sa proper forum ang mga akusasyon ng korupsyon?