BCDA not involved in Northrail project

MANILA, Philippines - Allow me to set the record straight with reference to a news item in the July 12, 2010 issue of your newspaper titled: “DOTC to review Northrail project.”

The news article states that: “The DOTC reassumes jurisdiction over the project after the previous administration gave administrative jurisdiction to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).”

May I clarify that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has assumed jurisdiction over the Northrail project a long time ago in the past. To be exact, it will have exercised such jurisdiction for seven years this August, by virtue of Executive Order 232 “Directing the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications to exercise primary oversight functions over the North Rail project, transferring the North Luzon Railways Corp. (Northrail) from the Office of the President to the DOTC, and reorganizing the respective governing boards of Northrail and the Philippine National Railways (PNR).” The EO was signed by then President Gloria Arroyo in Aug. 19, 2003.

Henceforth, the BCDA was never involved in the contracts on Northrail with the Chinese suppliers, including the transactions made with the China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. Group (CNMEG). The supply contract of Northrail was signed during the period when Northrail was under the DOTC’s jurisdiction.

May I request that your prestigious paper publish this reply in the interest of balanced reporting and fairness, the hallmarks of ethical journalism for which The Philippine STAR is well known.