By Fernan Angeles
PRESIDENTIAL staunch ally Dennis Uy should now be considered as the most powerful businessman in the Philippines after his Dito Telecommunity handily secured a contract that would allow a private telecommunications company to construct cell sites inside military camps.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted to have signed the contract with China-backed telecommunications company Dito Telecommunity, which would allow the telco to build cell sites within Philippine military camps – despite opposition that hinted national security as a major concern.
“I signed the contract recently,” Lorenzana said on Tuesday, September 8, as he was defending the defense department’s 2021 budget at the House of Representatives.
Asked by Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, Lorenzana admitted having signed a contract.
Lorenzana nonetheless offered an alibi that now sees the Senate at fault. He said that senators in 2019 had asked him to reconsider the contract, but they apparently did not send any recommendations to him on how to edit the agreement.
“Last year, when the contract reached my table, the Senate also asked a copy of the contract for them to scrutinize. They came out with nothing. They had no complaint about any recommendation on the contract. It was returned to us,” Lorenzana said.
He added that the Armed Forces of the Philippines assured him that they will institute “safeguards” to prevent any security breaches.