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Government ally Dennis Uy, the chairman of logistics company 2G0, Inc., said last night that he is refusing to accept the PHP35 million (US$ 690,177) rental fee that the Philippine government allegedly offered in exchange for the use of two ships that will be used as quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients.
Uy’s statement comes after widespread public outcry over the large payout, with public policy group Infrawatch PH saying that the government should just lease cheaper facilities and that the large sum of money should just be given to families who have been struggling due to the Luzon lockdown.
“Given that government has limited funds for its social amelioration program [SAP]…the P35-million rental outlay could have funded instead the SAP benefiting an additional 7,000 low-income families.[F]urther, the priority of government should be competitively-priced land-based quarantine facilities in the event that government facilities reach capacity,” Infrawatch PH’s spokesman Terry Ridon told GMA News.
It doesn’t help that Uy, a Davao-based businessman, is reportedly one of the top donors of President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 presidential campaign. He is said to have donated PHP30 million (US$691,493) to Duterte, formerly the mayor of Davao City.
The Transportation Department yesterday announced that they were going to pay 2Go millions of pesos to lease its vessels for two months, which will be used to quarantine returning overseas Filipino workers.
Despite the high price tag, Uy said that actual operational costs for the vessels were much higher than what the government intended to pay, but 2Go was actually planning to allow the government to use them for free.
“To set the record straight, [the] actual cost to operate the two vessels as quarantine facilities is at PHP260M [US$5.1 million]. But this was intended to be a donation. The P35 million was an offer made by the DOTr, for which we had no plans of accepting,” Uy said in a statement.
Responding to public outcry, Uy added, “I apologize if this news has unduly offended some of our fellow Filipinos, so let me be clear, 2GO is providing two vessels to serve as quarantine facilities free of charge to the Filipino people. Even if the government offers to pay the P35 million we in 2GO, in good conscience, have no intention of accepting their offer.”
The Davao-based businessman added that the waived lease has been approved by the company’s stakeholders and that if needed, he’ll supposedly pony up the cost to run the ships from his own pockets.
“As chairman of 2GO, I have conferred with other shareholders and have given explicit instructions to waive the P35 million expected payment from the government; and if necessary make good the said amount out of my own funds to cover for the expected expenses to operate the said ships,” he added.
“I do believe that now, more than ever, in the time of COVID-19, we as Filipinos, whether in private or in government, have to work together, jointly make the necessary sacrifice, stand together to safeguard the lives and safety of our countrymen,” he added.
