Companies that have a bad reputation in the international community will not be able to bid for projects in the Philippines, assured Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Dominguez made the remark at a recent press briefing when asked to comment on World Bank-blacklisted Chinese companies that recently entered into investment pledges with government and local private companies during the Philippine government’s state visit to the mainland last month.
“These projects will be bid out and of course, if a company is not acceptable in the international field, they will not be able to bid for the project,” Dominguez said.
The recent state visit delivered US$15 billion in investment pledges from China. However, some Chinese companies that took part in the agreements were reported to be either blacklisted by World Bank or had records of alleged anomalies and corruption.
One of these is China Road and Bridge Company (CRBC), which is debarred by World Bank from 2009 to January 2017 after an internal investigation found it had colluded with local and international companies in bidding for the first phase of the Philippine National Roads Improvement and Management Program.
CRBC is supposed to do a feasibility study on the Bonifacio Global City-Ninoy Aquino International Airport Segment of the Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit-EDSA project with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).
At the same time, CRBC’s mother company China Communication Construction Co. (CCCC) and its subsidiaries are also banned by the multilateral lender until 2017.
CCCC subsidiary CCCC Dredging Company signed an investment pledge with Mega Harbor Port and Development, Inc. (MHPDI) for the Cebu International and Bulk Terminal project.
Another subsidiary, China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. (CHECL), together with BCDA, will do the Subic-Clark railway project.
CHECL, together with Cavitex Holdings, Inc. and International Container Terminal Services Inc., will undertake a transportation and logistics infrastructure project at Sangley Point in Cavite.
CHECL also signed with MHPDI the development of the Davao coastline and port, and with R-II Builders Inc. the Manila Harbour Center reclamation.
Two other Chinese conglomerates—China CAMC Engineering and SinoHydro Corp.—are reportedly caught up in corruption allegations stemming from previous projects here and abroad.
China CAMC is slated to have a joint undertaking in renewable energy with Columbus Capitana, while SinoHydro will partner with Zonar Construct for the Pasig River, Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway bridges, and with One Whitebeach Land Development for the Ambal Simuay subriver basin flood control project.
However, BCDA earlier clarified that CRBC and CHECL did not actually bag these projects, only the feasibility studies for two of them. It further assured that if the projects proceed after their feasibility has been determined, they “will all follow the most rigorous and stringent procedures and requirements of Philippine government public procurement under our laws and regulations.”
Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
