MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 29, 2011) – Senate President Pro Tempore Jose Pimentel Ejercito filed a resolution that directs committees in the Upper House to reopen its probe on the alleged grossly disadvantageous transaction behind the so-called Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates (PEACe) Bonds.
Under Senate Resolution 638, Ejercito called on the Blue Ribbon Committee (Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations) and Ways and Means Committee to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the government’s borrowing process in relation to the issuance of PEACe bonds and determine who are the accountable personalities behind this deal and to finally put closure on the case.
The Senate Committee on Finance launched an inquiry regarding the controversy during the early part of 2002, but was not able to come up with a report.
The so-called PEACe Bonds are ten-year zero-coupon bonds issued by the Bureau of Treasury, as auctioned on October 16, 2001. The government was paid P10 billion, but had to pay some P35 billion when the bonds matured last month.
Ejercito believed there is a necessity to ascertain the transparency of the government’s borrowing process to prevent irregular issuance of government debt instruments in the future.
The politician also cited financial analysts and observers who said that the awarding of the bonds was allegedly marred with influence-peddling, political payback and potential conflict of interest.
His resolution reads: “It is clear from the [foregoing] facts that the government issued bonds for the benefit of a private institution and paid some 35 billion pesos out of taxpayer’s money when the bonds mature in contravention and in violation of the spirit of Constitution wherein no money shall be paid out of the Treasury except pursuant to an appropriation made by law.”
“I am personally interested to know how much benefit the national government gained from issuing these bonds ten years ago. The government will now spend billions of pesos paying this debt and in effect losing funds for other essential programs and services. We are all for poverty eradication and active civil society participation. But we must make sure that all anti-poverty efforts fall within what is legal and what is truly effective and not making use of pro-poor agenda only to enrich one self.”
The Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) has explained how the PEACe Bonds work in this URL:
http://www.code-ngo.org/home/images/stories/pdf/FAQ_Peace_Bonds.pdf.
The CODE-NGO, with its 6 national networks and 6 regional networks, representing more than 1,600 development NGOs, people’s organizations and cooperatives nationwide, is the country’s biggest coalition of NGOs working for social development.
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