BY DENNIS GADIL

SEN. Panfilo Lacson yesterday asked for a formal investigation into the alleged $70 million overprice in the Southrail project, which was exposed by ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. in his testimony last Friday.

"Numerous anomalous procurement deals have become a common occurrence in this administration wherein government officials blatantly disregard the rule of law just to further their pecuniary interests," Lacson said in Senate Resolution 302.

Lacson said the probe aims to strengthen the government’s procurement and anti-graft laws.

Lozada told the Senate hearing on the $329 million broadband deal that there was a $70 million overprice in the Southrail project.

Malacañang has insisted that the Southrail project was aboveboard.

"In light of recent events, it is evident that R.A. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) had become a toothless, if not a useless law, in ensuring that the governmental procurement process is free from any irregularities. Thus there is an urgent need to revise the provisions of the said law in order to make it more effective and efficient in preventing anomalies in the future," Lacson said.

He added: "The deliberate actuations of government officials in conniving overpriced contracts manifest their grave disrespect for the provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act."

The $932.037 million Southrail project will be implemented in two phases.

The first phase involves the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 423-kilometer railway line from Calamba, Laguna to Legazpi City, Albay. It would cost $627.811 million.

The second phase covers the construction of a 135-kilometer railway from Comun, Camalig, Albay to Matnog, Sorsogon. It would cost $304.226 million.

The Philippine National Railways said 95 percent of the project cost or $885.435 million will be funded through a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China.

In July 2007, the National Economic and Development Authority and the Ministry of Commerce of China signed a memorandum of understanding for the 542-kilometer Southrail project where Manila and Beijing will create a Philippine-China Economic Joint Working Group to track and review the project’s performance.