From:
abs-cbnnews.com
The Chinese
government has asked the Philippine government to return $500 million in
official development assistance (ODA) for the Northrail project.
This
was revealed by Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar
Roxas during a press briefing in Malacañang yesterday.
Roxas
said the Northrail project will be
reconfigured to make the contract legal.
The
Supreme Court had earlier allowed a lower court to hear the case calling for
the annulment of the allegedly overpriced Northrail contract. It ruled that the
Northrail project is defective since it failed to comply with the Philippine
Procurement law.
Roxas said the loan will be paid by installment over a period of
2 years.
"We do have the money and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima
said there are negotiations to pay it installments in 2 years," he said.
The Northrail project is supposed to connect Manila to areas in
Central and Northern Luzon.###
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