Estrada scraps 'midnight' barangay phone contract

President Estrada approved yesterday the scrapping of the "midnight" contract entered into by the previous Ramos administration involving the installation of telephones in the country's barangays.

The President said the contract was signed two days before he assumed office in June 1998.

The contract was a component of the P53-billion Municipal Telephone Project (MTP) which, Mr. Estrada said, turned out to be "overpriced" as packaged by the previous Ramos administration.

In his weekly radio program, the President said he has temporarily suspended the entire MTP project until a new review is done to determine specific components that are allegedly "overpriced."

The MTP, he said, is one of many government projects funded by official development assistance (ODAs) from foreign financial institutions.

"We will review if this telephone project for barangays is really needed because as I see it, we have more priority projects to implement," he said.

Under the contract, $165,000 is allocated per barangay when the telephone system can be acquired at only $40,000, Mr. Estrada said.

In other Palace developments:

* The President approved the recommendation of the Economic Coordinating Council (ECC) to increase from P50 million to P200 million the cost of ODA-funded contracts subject to review by the Office of the President.

* The President chided the Supreme Court for merely suspending and not outrightly dismissing Camarines Norte Judge Owen Amor who was caught receiving P400,000 in bribe money from a police officer recently.