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| File photo from Abante |
For Bicol Representative Edcel Lagman, President Rodrigo
Duterte’s move on Maynilad and Manila Water to accept government’s unilateral
revision of their existing water concessions violates the constitutional
guarantee on the freedom to contract.
“The Constitution protects contracts from impairment by the
State,” says the opposition lawmaker on Monday.
“The mere say-so of the Duterte administration that the
water concessions contain onerous provisions must pass judicial scrutiny, and
any one-sided investigation by the administration will never suffice,” said
Lagman
The lawmaker from Bicol pointed out that potential investors
always consider the “predictability of the enforcement of government policies”
as one of the major factors, however, “any constitutional violation of the
freedom to contract derogates that certainty,” Lagman warned.
“The President’s threats that if the water concessionaires
will not accept his imposition, the government will take over the water
utilities will further drive away investors following the report of the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that foreign direct investments plunged 32.8 percent
from January to October in 2019,” Lagman added
Earlier, President Duterte expressed willingness to make
amends with water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad if they accept the
"corrected" contracts.
"I suppose that up to now, they must already have the
copies of the proposed contract, as corrected," Duterte said in an exclusive
interview with ABS CBN on Friday night
"And I suppose if they are willing to accept the
conditions that are being laid down there in the proposal, I think we can
negotiate again." He added
On Tuesday, the President also announced that the water concessionaires
can only either accept the new water contracts or face cancellation of their
present deals.
Duterte said he will not hesitate to cancel the current water
deals if Maynilad and Manila Water decline his new proposal.
"But if you do not sign the contract, there is no
contract because we have terminated it for all intents and purposes," the
President said.
"It is my stand that the contract was null and void
from the very beginning because the provisions, the anti-graft law, and
constitutional requirements, have been transgressed." He added
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