Comrade Sison condemns Duterte regime’s illegal loan arrangement with China

National Democratic Front, Philippines                7 April 2019

Comrade Jose Maria Sison, Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and Chief Political Consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, has released a statement backing a move by Makabayan (Patriotic Coalition of the People) Chairman Neri Colmenares and several progressive groups asking the Supreme Court to block a $62-million loan from China to fund the construction of the Chico River Dam.

Under the loan arrangement, the Philippines is deprived of its sovereign rights, caught in a legal trap similar to the Investor-State Dispute Settlement clauses that were an unacceptable feature of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement pursued by US imperialism.  

 

We publish Comrade Sison’s statement as further evidence of Chinese capitalism’s social-imperialist orientation and recommend that interested readers look at our publication Explaining China: How a socialist country took the capitalist road to social-imperialism available here.

 

Treason and corruption of Duterte and gang at two levels of transactions with China

 

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison

NDFP Chief Political Consultant
April 4, 2019

The petitioners headed by Makabayan Chairman Neri J. Colmenares are correct and praiseworthy in asking the Supreme Court to declare the US$62,086,837.82 Preferential Buyer’s Credit Loan Agreement on the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, identified under No. 1420103052018210863 CHINA EXIMBANK PBC 2018 NO. 11 TOTAL NO. 468, as unconstitutional, illegal and void.

As urgent relief, they also ask the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction, to enjoin Respondents from enforcing the loan agreement. The respondents are Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte, Exec. Sec. Salvador C. Medialdea, DOF Sec. Carlos G. Dominguez III, NEDA Sec. Ernesto M. Pernia, DOJ Sec. Menardo I. Guevarra, NIA Administrator Ricardo R. Visaya.

The petitioners point out that the assailed loan agreement and subsequent implementation thereof violate the Constitution and are, therefore, void because:

 

1. It contains a Confidentiality Clause violative of the 1987 Constitution that provides for the right to information of the Filipino people on foreign loans contracted by the government (Sec. XII, Sec. 21 and 22; Art. II, Sec. 28; Art. III, Sec. 7);

 

2. It was approved after-the-fact by the Monetary Board which is not in conformity with the 1987 Constitution that requires prior concurrence (Art. VII, Sec. 20; Art. XII, Sec. 21);

 

3. It is conditioned on the signing of a contractor’s agreement awarding the project to a Chinese construction firm and, thereby, doing away with the country’s procurement laws and the Filipino First Policy of the 1987 Constitution (Art. XII, Sec. 10; Procurement Reform Act R.A. No. 9184; Official Development Assistance Act R.A. No. 8182);

 

4. It hauls the country to a Chinese arbitration tribunal, officiated by Chinese arbitrators using Chinese laws, in violation of Art. II, Sec. 7 of the Constitution;

 

5. It contains an express waiver of sovereign immunity over the State’s patrimonial assets in favor of a foreign government in violation of the Constitution (Art. XII, Sec. 7; Art. II, Sec. 7; Art. XII, Sec. 2).

The unconstitutional and illegal character of the loan agreement and the implementation thereof amount to brazen treason, involving the gross violation of national sovereignty and the national patrimony. The loan agreement also reeks of corruption of the grossest kind because the project is overpriced and the interest on the loan is excessively high in comparison to offers from other countries.

Duterte and his ruling clique are not ashamed of committing obvious treason and corruption because they are carried away by their greed for commissions and other forms of payoff. According to reliable sources, these commissions have been advanced indirectly through the loans extended by Chinese banks to Duterte dummy, Dennis Uy, who has been buying up major Philippine assets to the tune of 80 billion Php as of the last report a year ago.

The Duterte family and traitor gang have been benefiting from relations with China at the two levels of official transactions with the Chinese state and criminal transactions with Chinese triads involved in the smuggling of drugs, rice and other goods to the Philippines. The criminal transactions started as early as when Duterte was still mayor and connived with the Chinese triads in using Davao City as a major smuggling point.

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Watch: Neri Colmenares What happens if the Philippines can’t pay off loans from China?