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Friday, September 16, 2005
Editorial: Why the secrecy?
THERE is something fishy about the Arroyo administration's hiring of the US-based lobby firm Venable LLP. Firstly, why was the deal made a secret? Why should the government get the services of a foreign company to lobby for money to finance Charter change moves?
It is surprising that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and even Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo are clueless about the Venable contract.
A thorough Congressional investigation is in order and the contract should be voided right away if it is deemed disadvantageous to the government or a waste of funds.
According to reports, the government will pay Venable US$75,000 or a whooping P4.2 million monthly as retainer fee, including operating costs like travel expenses, phone, fax and copying.
Multiply P4.2 million by 12 months and that will amount to P50.4 million. The money could have been put into much better use like funding projects that will uplift the lives of millions of Filipinos.
The hiring of Venable is not justified and it is so lame for Mr. Ermita to say that previous administrations had hired groups in the past to lobby for the immediate passage of a law on the payment of back claims of Filipino war veterans and for the earmarking of funds for the Philippine military modernization program.
Hello?!! The groups lobbied for very valid causes. In the case of Venable, it is being tapped to seek funding for Charter change, which is a matter that should only concern the government and us Filipinos, not outsiders.
(September 16, 2005 issue)
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