Probe on NBN-ZTE deal: Is it a Waste of Time?

Probe on NBN (National Broadband Network): Is It a Waste of Time?


The government officials who are on the side of the Arroyo’s think it is. The opposition thinks it is not. However, what about the masses, what do they think about it? I have been into discussion with a forum at Sulit.com.ph and there is divided opinion on the issue, somehow. About half of the people in the forum think that it is a waste of time, since most of the probes that the Senate did in the past did not prosper into a concrete solution to the problem. But the other half thinks that it did helped in putting a stop to the what could have been a big scam in the government.

The probe started when, whistle-blower Joey de Venecia, pointed at Mr. Abalos, COMELEC Chairman then and the no less than the First Gentleman, Arroyo as behind the over pricing of the said deal with the ZTE Officials, with about 130milliion dollars commission. The amount is outrageously huge, but with the other two testifying in the Senate probe, it might be true. Mr. Neri, of NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) then, was involved on the study of the NBN deal, he testified in the Senate probe but his testimonies are somehow short of what people had expected. He mentioned in one of his testimonies that, the former COMELEC Chairman, bribed him of 200(million) should the deal be approved by NEDA in favor of ZTE. However, as I understand it, things did not turn out the way Mr. Abalos expected it. The proposal of Joey de Venecia’s was the one that was approved by NEDA and according to Mr. Jun Lozada’s testimony, Mr. Neri talked to him and asked him to reconcile the two parties, ZTE and Joey de Venecia, with the latter as the contractor and ZTE as the supplier, going for a win-win solution for the said parties. However, apparently, Mr. De Venecia did not like the amount Mr. Abalos was asking from the said deal. Somehow, it might have triggered the ire between them.

The hottest person in the news today is Mr. Jun Lozada, being the latest witness in the junked NBN deal. I find Mr. Jun Lozada as a credible witness being him as one of the guys, then. He admits to the things that a government employee should not do. Things, as he said, that would make him lose his self-respect. Nevertheless, good for him, he decided not to drown in his own sin and instead testify against the big people in the government. His testimonies in the Senate were detailed from the time he arrived from Hong Kong until the time he was given to the de La Salle brothers and sisters. Now, Mr. Lozada fears for his life and his loved ones; he does not have a job; could not go home and his kids had to stop from going to school. He also stated in an interview with ABS-CBN that he knows it would come to this, before he decided to talk about the truth. So, why would Mr. Lozada make up stories as “outrageous” as that, as what administration officials would like it to insinuate?

The government should have a lot to explain about the whole mess that they created. It is about time that they should learn to respect the people’s right to know what’s happening and not to cover up things by creating another issue or looking for cases that they could file against the people or group who had turned against them. What could a person like Mr. Jun Lozada do against the administration people who have their position and power at their hands? Mr. Jun Lozada does not have all the financial resources compared to these people. They can do whatever it takes to discredit Mr. Lozada, and this is so unfortunate for people like Mr. Lozada, who work in the government who want to come out and talk bout the irregularities their superiors are doing, precisely because of fear of losing their job as one of the worst-case scenario.

Does the Senate probe really is a waste of time and money? No, it is not. It is the Filipino’s right to know what is going on no matter how bad the reality is. The administration thinks that the probe would not go anywhere. Well, for starters it already did progressed when the ZTE contract was suspended. If it had not been investigated by the Senate, the deal would have been pushed through and another burden would have been added on the shoulders of the taxpayers.


*pictures courtesy of ABS-CBN Interactive