A newly organized think tank on Saturday said presidential aspirants should reconsider the current government’s tilt towards China and review all pending projects and funding from that country and focus on multilateral cooperation instead of relying on bilateral arrangements with superpowers.
Infrawatch PH, identified with the legal left, said presidentiables for the May elections should think of this with controversies brought about by President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to the communist giant.
“With Beijing having failed to make good of its commitment to help the country develop in the last five years, presidential bets should reconsider whether to continue Duterte’s pivot to China,” Infrawatch PH convener Terry Ridon said.
The former chairman of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Ridon said this during a virtual forum that discussed public policy proposals that should be considered by presidential aspirants.
Ridon said the Pharmally controversy had resulted from the Duterte administration’s “over-reliance on the goodwill of Beijing to develop the country as part of warming bilateral relations with Manila.”
“But aside from failing to deliver on its funding commitments, Chinese businessmen have managed to control significant portions of the economy, from telecommunications to government contracts. The Pharmally affair would not have been possible had the President not pivoted to Beijing,” Ridon said.
He added that the large infrastructure projects involving mainland Chinese had been beset by corruption issues.
“The Kaliwa Dam bidding process remains questionable, as no less than the Commission on Audit suspects that no real competitive bidding had been undertaken between Chinese bidders who participated in the process,” Ridon said.
“No contractor will ever submit a bid price higher than the approved budget of projects, and this was what had happened in the Kaliwa dam bid,” he added.
Ridon said presidential aspirants should focus on building international ties with more multilateral partners, instead of relying on bilateral partners.
“The next President should participate in other regional cooperation organizations that put great emphasis on the need for real multilateralism in resolving regional and international disputes,” he added.