“I have ordered an immediate halt to the procedures for the [Philippine] project,” South Korea President Lee Jae-myung said as quoted by The Chosun Daily.
IN WHAT CAN be called an embarrassing slap on the Marcos administration, the South Korean Government has suspended the funding of a project in the Philippines to build numerous bridges.
“I have ordered an immediate halt to the procedures for the [Philippine] project,” South Korea President Lee Jae-myung said as quoted by The Chosun Daily.
The report said the project loan was denied due to “concerns over poor management.”
A report from Hankyoreh said that the Department of Finance of the Philippine Government in November 2023 applied for a project amounting to about 700 billion Korean Won, or about $510 million or about P28 billion.
“The project covered the building of 350 modular bridges across the Philippines, and the Philippine government has requested a loan of $439 million (approximately KRW 611.7 billion) from the Korean government,” the report of Hankyoreh said.
The project proposal of the Philippines was to build 210 bridges in Luzon, 88 in the Visayas, and 53 in Mindanao by 2028, and would also benefit farmers as the project will cover rural areas.
While the South Korean government did not elaborate on corruption concerns, there are ongoing probes in the House of Representatives and the Senate on substandard and non-existent or ghost flood control projects amounting to billions of pesos.
A number of lawmakers have been tagged as involved in the allegedly anomalous flood control projects, while at least three private contractors have been blacklisted indefinitely due to botched or non-existent flood control projects.
“I have ordered an immediate halt to the procedures for the [Philippine] project,” South Korea President Lee Jae-myung said as quoted by The Chosun Daily.
