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Contract of treason

The latest exposé of Malou Mangahas, a member of the board of editors of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), on the million-dollar contract between the Arroyo government and the Venable LLP, one of the top 100 law firms in the United States is another blow to the scam-ridden Macapagal-Arroyo regime. Paying the foreign law firm to lobby for Philippine charter change in the US government is contradictory to the government’s cost-cutting measures and is out rightly scandalous.

The contract, signed by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales in behalf of the Philippine government, ensures that Venable will get US$75,000 (approximately P4.2 million) per month or US$900,000 (P50.4 million) a year excluding cost of travel, telephone, fax, and professional services. The professional fee of senior associates can reach to as much as US$720 per hour.

It is public knowledge that the government faces a huge budget deficit and has resulted to cost cutting measures in the different government offices like reducing office supplies by 10%, limiting the gasoline allowance to 40 liters a week, moratorium in purchasing new electrical equipment, energy conservation, etc. Furthermore, the budget deficit is the reason to fast track the passing into law of the expanded value added tax (EVAT) for the government to raise additional source of income.

While the people continue to carry the burden of increasing government’s income thru taxes and belt tightening measures, the national government continues to spend extravagantly as seen in the Venable-Gonzales contract. Imagine how many Filipinos will benefit from the P50.4 million that the government will pay Venable for a year’s service were the amount used for social services.

Furthermore, the purpose in hiring Venable to “secure grants and (US) congressional earmarks” for the eventual shift of the Philippine government from a presidential to a parliamentary federal system is questionable and tantamount to treason because it paves the way for the US to meddle in an internal affair, the charter change. As we all know, the grants that the Philippine government receives from any foreign institution does not come without strings attached. The value added tax enacted during the term of Fidel V. Ramos was a prerequisite before the International Monetary Fund-World Bank could release additional loans to the Philippine government.

Indeed, it will be our congressmen who will rewrite the Constitution. Are we to be believe that they will truly represent the interests of the Filipino people over the interest of the US government knowing that the funds used during the constitutional convention are grants from the US government? The votes during the recent impeachment case show how vulnerable our congressmen are especially when financial resources are at stake. #

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