MRT3 crooks infect JICA
A price fixing incident should be looked into after the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) admitted that an employee leaked cost estimates and work details to a Tokyo-based construction consulting firm before the bidding for a Japanese government-supported project.
The subject of the leak was a railroad project of a joint venture that included the consulting firm after a “competitive” bidding process in 2019.
JICA said the leak of confidential information concerned an improvement project of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 that was connected to a yen loan of about $255.5 million agreed upon between the Philippine and Japanese governments.
The JICA employee was suspected of leaking the estimates and the work plans prepared by the Philippine government to the consulting firm several times via email before the bidding stage.
JICA said the employee’s excuse when investigated for the information leak was “the need to expedite the project.”
The agency said it took disciplinary measures “because the employee leaked confidential information related to procurement procedures.”
The practice is suspiciously similar to the bid rigging that is common with government contracts.
The government must do its part in stamping out the corrupt practice by tagging those who were part of the bid-rigging syndicate that involved the JICA staffer.
Back with a vengeance
The Bank of America on Thursday started its foreign-exchange service in the Philippines as the US bank recognized the growing trade in the country. Annual onshore currency business is now estimated at $300 billion a year.
A bank official said the nation’s overall foreign exchange business is expected “to grow substantially over the next few years because of all the structural tailwinds for further investments in the Philippines.”
As investments from multinational companies, outsourcing firms and chip manufacturers grow, they will need additional foreign exchange services.
Bank of America offered foreign-exchange and fixed-income services in the Philippines until the early 2000s, when it pulled out some of its businesses in the region to focus on the American market.
The US lender was one of the first foreign banks to set up shop in the Philippines. It is also working on opening a fixed-income business in Manila.
The comebacking BA will cater to multinational firms and large local conglomerates before covering financial institutions, including asset managers and insurers.
By offering fixed-income, currency and commodities services in the Philippines, the nation joins other Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia where Bank of America already has similar onshore businesses.