Daily Tribune
The Supreme Court has declared "valid" and "not unconstitutional" the P273 million in total loans secured by the Philippine government from the Export-Import Bank of China for the 2018 River Pump Irrigation and Kaliwa Dam projects. In an en banc decision, the SC said "the loan agreements have sufficiently complied with the applicable procurement laws and conform with the pertinent provisions of the Constitution."
It denied the consolidated petitions for prohibition in G.R. 24598 l and 246594 filed by then-members of the Makabayan bloc in Congress against President Rodrigo Duterte and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Mr. Duterte's name was stricken off as respondent in the petition on account of his immunity from suit as sitting President at the time.
In the decision written by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, the High Court upheld the preferential buyer's credit loan agreements on the Chico River Pump Irrigation and the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam projects.
The petitioners claimed the government failed to secure the concurrence of the Monetary Board for the loans and that they allegedly bypassed qualified Filipinos in favor of foreigners. They added the agreements contained stipulations that defeat the state's pursuit of an independent foreign policy. It may be recalled that the $62.08 million loan for the Chico project was executed on 10 April 2018 between the Chinese bank and the government through the Department of Finance.
Records showed that the MB gave its final approval to the loan agreement through Resolution 813 dated 17 May 2018, and also for the $211.21 million loan for the Kaliwa Dam on 6 June 2019 under Resolution 854.
The SC pointed to the approval by the board of the loan agreements in shooting down the petitioners' claim.
