Business and Economy

2009 State of the Nation Address

Gloria’s 9th SONA: Apologetic,
boastful — or both?

by Dr. Benjamin E. Diokno

TODAY President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will deliver her valedictory State of the Nation Address (SONA). The act is the highest level of public accountability for the president that is mandated in the Philippine Constitution – for the country’s chief executive to report to Congress, the bureaucracy, and the Filipino people on the state of the nation.

The question is which Arroyo will show up to deliver the SONA: A boastful, triumphant Arroyo, who will take credit for the Philippine economy’s uninterrupted expansion during her watch or an apologetic Arroyo, who has caused so much pain and misery for a lot of Filipinos and has managed to damage, in varying degrees, existing democratic institutions?

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 27th, 2009

Faster growth under Arroyo:
Reality or statistical illusion?

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.

Read more... | Posted Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Gloria & her SONAs: Long
on show, short on substance

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.

Read more... | Posted Friday, July 24th, 2009

Laiban deal requires RP’s
performance undertaking

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.

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 20th, 2009
Video

MWSS officials address Laiban project

by Ed Lingao

MWSS officials address the apparent haste in the tender of the Laiban dam project.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Confident about ‘confidential’ deal?

Ahead of contract, San Miguel starts
to court Laiban residents

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.

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 13th, 2009
Deal with San Miguel confidential?

MWSS keeps Laiban dam tender
secret, even to NEDA

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.

Read more... | Posted Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Sidebar

MWSS execs: On sick leave, out
of office, mum on Laiban

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 project
Costliest dam project [...]

Read more... | Posted Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Video

Sweat of the Sierra Madre

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.

Read more... | Posted Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Laiban dam a template?

New joint-venture rules allow
little oversight, more abuse

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 and run [...]

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 6th, 2009

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