Another murky lawsuit

Neric Acosta must be finding himself in a murky situation with the P4-billion damage suit filed by Belgian firm Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDC) before the Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment disputes or ICSID over the scrapping of the Laguna Lake rehabilitation project. Neric was very recently appointed as general manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authority that has jurisdiction over the 94,000-hectare lake whose condition has been described as in the “intensive care unit.” The environmentalist in Neric knows just how critical the P18.7-billion dredging project is in reviving the dying lake, but he must be feeling a lot of pressure since he has his marching orders from Malacañang plus the fact that militant groups like Pamalakaya, Save Laguna Lake Movement and even church leaders are urging government not to pay BDC.

According to Spy Bits sources, the Belgian firm was willing to sit down and discuss the issue even after President Noynoy Aquino had earlier announced the scrapping of the deal, but what really peeved BDC was the lack of official communication from the government. “The Belgians never received any formal cancellation in black and white; they just found out from press statements and naturally they were not too happy about it, plus the fact that they were waiting for that so-called ‘final study’ on the rehabilitation project,” the source disclosed.

The 150-year-old BDC is one of the largest dredging companies in the world, employing state-of-the-art equipment that would have made it possible for the dredging to proceed without dismantling the fish pens proliferating around Laguna Lake. In fact, the Belgian firm was the same contractor that finished the Pasig River dredging project much ahead of schedule. BDC executives have been airing their displeasure, calling the Aquino government “untrustworthy” for reneging on a project that has been declared valid by Justice Secretary Lilia de Lima - upholding the same ruling of her predecessors.

In any case, businessmen are concerned that BDC’s lawsuit will once again paint a negative picture of the Philippines before the international community. As observers noted, this could discourage investors from participating in the government’s public-private partnership (whether “hybrid” or not) projects, most notably the Europeans considering the case filed by German firm Fraport AG before the ICSID over the NAIA-3 Terminal project. The Aquino administration is facing a big challenge since it has to find a way to legally get out of big-ticket projects entered into by the previous administration which are perceived as “tainted” and irregular. Clearly, what is needed here is a reasonable compromise that would be satisfactory to everyone concerned. Otherwise, this could turn out to be another “Piatco fiasco” whose negative consequences continue to be felt to this day.

Rewriting history

Veteran writer Cecilio Arillo has written another book with yet another thought-provoking title - “A Country Imperiled: Tragic Lessons of a Distorted History.” A lot of Filipinos, this columnist included, have a high regard for this seasoned journalist and professor who has had his share of troubles and tribulations - having been incarcerated during the time of Ferdinand Marcos. He was charged with rebellion (along with Col. Red Kapunan and Raffy Recto) during the term of the late president Cory Aquino; and was implicated in kidnapping and murder during the time of FVR - all of which were eventually dropped.

Like his earlier books (“Breakaway” and “Greed and Betrayal”), Cecil’s latest opus is sure to make a lot of people uncomfortable for its bold and factual perspective on critical moments in our history, spanning the time of Ferdinand Marcos as president, martial law, the Aquino regime and the succeeding administrations up to the time of Noynoy Aquino as president. Cecil says he just wants to “set the record straight” for the new generation of Filipinos who may not be getting the true picture from the distorted presentation of historical events and the glorification of certain personalities in a lot of history books we have today. In a phrase, Arillo succeeds in deconstructing accepted norms as seen in traditional textbook presentations regarding our country’s past.

It’s really important for writers - especially history writers - to be objective in their presentation, and many who have had the opportunity to read Cecilio Arillo’s latest book agree that his perspective comes as a breath of fresh air from the usual, stilted recounting of facts that history students have to put up with in most other books.

Spy tidbit

– Leading global public relations firm Weber Shandwick recently acquired S2 Publicom, one of the biggest PR firms in Brazil. To be renamed S2 Publicom Weber Shandwick, the acquisition heralds the entrance of WS to the Latin American region, boosting its positioning in one of the world’s best performing economies. Brazil will be hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics which is why this early, a lot of marketing and communications firms are tying up with Brazilian advertising and PR companies - if not buying them up.

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