Another Scandal Rocks Arroyo Govt

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 15, 2008) – Scandals after scandals, the Arroyo administration is once more entangled in another anomaly, this time involving millions of pesos in farm subsidies and rice programs for farmers, reports said Monday.

The Commission on Audit has uncovered alleged fake signatures on the list of beneficiaries of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

It said more than 100 recipients of the P218 million expenditure of the Department of Agriculture said they received little or not farm subsidies at all for hybrid rice, farm inputs, fertilizers and seeds in Luzon and Visayas.

Several lawmakers have already called for an investigation of the GMA program.

The Department of Agriculture in the past had been dragged into the controversial fertilizer program after one of its deputy secretaries Jocelyn Bolante allegedly diverted more than P700 million to Arroyo's election campaign.

Bolante escaped the Philippines and fled to the United States after the opposition uncovered the anomaly. He was arrested in the US after the Philippine Senate canceled his visa. Arroyo, who was implicated also by the opposition to poll fraud in 2004, denied any involvement in the scandals.

Last week, noted lawyer Harry Roque Roque said he uncovered a controversial $1-billion mining deal between the Arroyo government and China’s ZTE Corporation in Mt. Diwalwal. Government spokesmen insisted the deal did not push through.

ZTE-Diwalwal Deal Exposes Govt Greed, Says NDF

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 14, 2008) - The Arroyo regime's approval of and dismissive stance over the ZTE-Diwalwal mining deal sounds even more ominous and insensitive in the light of the huge landslide disaster in Maco town in Compostela Valley in Southern Mindanao which snuffed the lives of 24 people, the leftist National Democratic Front said Sunday.

It said the town of Maco, like Diwalwal, heaved its gold-rush mountains last week after years of plunder and ecological destruction by transnational mining corporations like the Canadian Crew Gold Corp.

The twin landslides that occurred in the village of Masara, Maco and Diwalwal in Monkayo which also injured a two-year old girl only add to the long list of mining tragedies in gold-rich site of Compostela Valley. Last year, ten people also died in the village of Masara after heavy rains triggered a landslide.

Crew Gold Corporation acquired three-fourths of share of Apex Mining Corporation which have been mining, causing ecological destruction and the massive displacement of peasant and Lumad families since the 1970s. At every onset of minimal monsoon rains and storms, landslides and flash floods are triggered because of the already damaged soil, the NDF said.

NDF spokesman Rubi del Mundo said through Mining Act of 1995, the Arroyo regime legitimized the unbridled plunder of our mining resources and the wanton destruction of our environment in the name of profit and total sell-out of our lands to multi-national, transnational and big local companies.

"As the victims of landslides suffer from the great loss of their loved ones and their livelihood, the Arroyo regime is shameless in holding of a Mining Summit in Davao City this month to further peddle whatever is left of our mineral- rich lands to foreign capitalists. Further, the anomalous Memorandum of Agreement between the GRP and the China's ZTE International Investment Limited which purportedly awarded 8,000 hectares claim in mining area of Mt. Diwalwal to the latter shows the brazen duplicity of the Arroyo regime," he said in a statement.

"The revolutionary movement will continue to resist this incessant plunder of our mining resources and plunder of our economy. The Red fighters of the New People's Army will continue to launch tactical offensives for the protection of the environment and the people; and the broad united front of the people will topple down this hated Arroyo regime," Del Mundo warned.

'Gov't Giving Away 90% Of Mt. Diwalwal Gold In ZTE Mining Deal'

MANILA, Philippines (ABS-CBN) - President Arroyo's administration will be giving away 90 percent of the country's gold reserve in Mt. Diwalwal, Compostela Valley if the government's mining deal with China's ZTE Corp. pushes through, lawyer Harry Roque revealed Saturday.

Roque said he uncovered the government's agreement with ZTE Corp. through the minutes of a meeting between government officials, led by Trade Secretary Peter Favila, with officials of the Chinese company.

He said the meeting took place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City on July 27, 2006, months after Favila signed with ZTE the controversial memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the $1-billion mining deal.

Based on the minutes of the meeting, Roque said the government agreed to give the Chinese company 90 percent of gold that will be cultivated from Mt. Diwalwal, which leaves the Philippines 10 percent of the precious metal's reserve in the mining town.

He said the agreement is already contained in a legal document. "This summarizes what was agreed upon by the Philippines and the ZTE Corp in implementation of the MOU."

Roque said one of the Chinese people present in the meeting was Fan Yan, the same ZTE Corp. official mentioned in the Senate's investigation on the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal.

He said he will name the other government officials and details of the agreement next week.

'Tongpats' source

Roque suspects the mining deal entered into by the government with ZTE Corp. would be the source of "kickbacks" for other high-ranking government officials involved in the botched NBN-ZTE agreement, who have not received their share of the deal.

“This explains where the tongpats (kickbacks) will be taken from. The $150 million kickback is too small. How will you get the money that would be used for the broadband operation? This is the answer,” the lawyer told radio dzMM.

One proof that giving away kickbacks is involved in the mining deal, Roque read a part of the MOU that says the Philippine government would handle the “local nuances.”

“The government of the Republic of the Philippines shall make available technical advises on the local nuances in the development and implementation of the investment,” Roque said, reading a provision of the MOU. “What do local nuances mean? That’s tongpats.”

Roque had said that the mining deal, if it pushes through, would become the mother of all illegal transactions entered into by the government, because of the amount involved in the agreement.

He said that based on a P200-million study conducted by the Philippine Mining Development Corp., the gold reserve in Mt. Diwalwal is worth at least $1 billion.

He said $1 billion is enough to satisfy all erring government officials who want a share from the projects awarded to the ZTE Corp.

Confidential clause

Roque said the MOU is a five-page document with a provision that says the agreement should be kept from the public.

“Unless otherwise required by law, regardless of regulations or an order of a court or any appropriate government agency, a party hereto shall not reveal the contents of this agreement, or issue any press release or make any other public announcement pertaining to the project contemplated herein without the written approval of the parties,” the lawyer said.

He said the provision clearly proves that something is fishy about the deal, adding that all negotiations entered into by the government should be made public as transparency in all government transactions is required by law.

Enforceable

Roque also belied claims by Press Secretary Jesus Dureza that the MOU is not an enforceable document.

The press secretary told radio dzMM that the MOU is not like a memorandum of agreement. He said the MOU is just a document for an “intention to invest.”

Roque, however, said that other than the title, there were no words in the document that says there is only an intention to invest.

He said the word “agreement” is written all over the document. “Aside from the title, there were no instances that mention the document is an MOU.”

Roque added that there is a provision in the document that says the government and ZTE Corp. “agree to perform all such acts and to execute and deliver such other documents… maybe necessary in order to give effect to the intent underlying the agreement or fully implement or consummate the transactions contemplated hereby…”

One of the required documents that has been executed by the government with ZTE Corp. is the 90-10 “sharing agreement” of Favila and Chinese officials, he said.

“I challenge Secretary Favila to make public other agreements entered into by the government with ZTE Corp. regarding this MOU,” he said.

Roque said the government hid the agreement by using the word MOU in anticipation of the people’s possible negative reaction to the mining deal.

Arroyo directly involved

The lawyer said Mrs. Arroyo is directly involved in the alleged illegal deal.

He said Mrs. Arroyo gave Favila a special authorization to “negotiate, conclude and sign for and in behalf of the Republic of the Philippines the MOU between the Philippine government and the ZTE International Investment Limited.”

Roque said he will bring his latest exposé before the proper court only after the public has been completely informed about the allegedly anomalous mining deal.

He added that he is also waiting to get hold of other documents needed to file complaints before the court.

Dureza, meanwhile, declined to comment on the revelations of the lawyer.

“Let it be threshed out [in the proper court]. We will wait for his answer to the constitutional challenge,” he said.

The press secretary had challenged Roque to bring the mining deal issue before the courts instead of babbling his revelations before the media.(abs-cbnnews.com)

ZTE Mining Deal With Manila Under Scrutiny

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 11, 2008) - Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has questioned the mining investment by the controversial China’s ZTE International in Mount Diwalwal in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao.

Manila has approved the deal, but this was not made public until noted lawyer Harry Roque exposed the agreement between ZTE and the Arroyo government.

Trillanes already filed a resolution Wednesday directing the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations to look into the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) supervised by Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila under special authority from President Gloria Arroyo.

He said the special authority signed on July 12, 2006, designated and authorized Favila to negotiate, conclude and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), for and on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines with ZTE. The MOU was intended as a cooperative agreement between both parties to work together and cooperate in the investment activities.

According to Trillanes, the MOA violates RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, which regulates mineral resources development in the country. This governing law takes into consideration local government empowerment, the indigenous cultural communities, equitable sharing of benefits and natural wealth, globalization and environmental sustainability.

He also challenged Secretary Lito Atienza’s contention that the MOA was incomplete without the consent of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). “Secretary Favila entered into this anomalous agreement through the direct authority of President Arroyo herself. The DENR’s approval was not necessary,” Trillanes said.

Trillanes also deemed the exploration, development and operation of mining areas without full State control and supervision as ‘unconstitutional.’

Philippine Leader Accused Of “Treason” Over Spratlys Deal With China

More political fuel was added this month to the crisis surrounding Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. There were accusations that her administration had betrayed the country by signing a 2005 agreement with China and Vietnam to conduct a joint seismic survey of the disputed Spratly Islands chain.

The new allegations come on top of accusations of massive kickbacks involving the awarding of a now-cancelled $US329 million contract to a Chinese corporation, Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Co. (ZTE), to build a nationwide broadband network (NBN) in the Philippines.

While the agreement with China and Vietnam is not new, opposition politicians utilised an article in January/February 2008 edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) to resurrect the issue. The payoffs contained in the 2006 ZTE contract, they claimed, were made in return for signing the Spratlys agreement in 2005.

The Spratlys, which sit aside key strategic sea lanes in the South China Sea and are believed to have significant reserves of oil and gas, have been the subject of bitter and long-running disputes between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The FEER article entitled “Manila’s Bungle in the South China Sea” was scathing in its criticism, declaring: “As details of the undertaking emerge, the JMSU [Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking] is beginning to look like anything but the way to go. For a start, the Philippine government has broken ranks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN], which was dealing with China as a bloc on the South China Sea issue.

The Philippines also has made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China and Vietnam. Through its actions, Manila has given a certain legitimacy to China’s legally spurious ‘historic claim’ to most of the South China Sea.”

Arroyo’s opponents—both left and right—immediately seized on the FEER article. In the lower house, Teodoro Casiño and Satur Ocampo from the Stalinist Bayan Muna joined with 12 other congressmen to declare that the JMSU agreement was “effectively giving away the national patrimony as it actually concedes the exploration and exploitation of natural resources to foreigners which, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), clearly fall within the archipelagic waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines.”

In the Senate, Panfilo Lacson and Anna Madrigal, both right-wing allies of former President Joseph Estrada, and Antonio Trillanes, the leader of a failed 2006 military uprising, filed separate resolutions against Arroyo. Trillanes’s resolution defined the agreement as “treacherous” and an apparent attempt “to circumvent the constitution and to undermine the powers vested by the constitution upon the senate”. If proven, this “amounts to a betrayal of public trust and treason, for which Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other responsible members of her Government should be held accountable,” his resolution stated.

It may appear odd that a three-year-old agreement has suddenly surfaced in the midst of a bitter faction row in the Philippine political establishment. In fact, the new JMSU “scandal” helps to clarify what lies beneath the allegations of corruption, nepotism and now treason against Arroyo that fill the pages of the Filipino press. Arroyo’s opponents speak for those layers of the ruling elite most closely aligned with the old colonial power—the United States—who are hostile to her administration’s developing economic and political relations with China.

In the tussle for the NBN contract, the Chinese corporation ZTE won out over an American rival ARESCOM. In the case of the Spratlys, even bigger interests are at stake. Ever since September 2001, the Bush administration has been intent on using its fraudulent “war on terrorism” to strengthen the US strategic position in South East Asia and counter its rising rival China.

Arroyo immediately sided with Washington and, with US military support, waged her own “war on terror” in southern Mindanao. At the same time, however, her administration has been increasingly dependent on aid and investment from China to boost the shaky Filipino economy.

US opposition to the JMSU deal was evident in 2005. The right-wing American think tank, the Heritage Foundation, was particularly incensed. It accused Arroyo of caving in to “bullies” and vehemently disagreed with her claims that the “agreement with China does not constitute a surrender of sovereignty over a potentially sensitive area near the Philippines’ coast”.

A similar note was sounded by Mark Valencia, currently a senior associate of the Nautilus Institute, who warned that the agreement “would seem to legitimise China’s occupation of Mischief Reef on the Philippines’ legal continental shelf, and also tacitly implies that both parties recognise the legitimacy of each other’s claims to the area to be ‘researched’, as well as to the nearby features”.

Washington’s opposition

Not accidentally, Valencia is the “independent expert” cited in the FEER article. He has been a senior fellow at the East-West Centre funded by the US Congress, and a contributor to the right-wing Asian Wall Street Journal and Washington Times. He has consistently articulated US strategic interests in opposing the legitimacy of China’s maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea.

In a Japan Times article in 2000, Valencia branded China’s claims as a “serious, long-term threat to safe and secure passage” in the South China Sea. He argued that in basing its claims of sovereignty over the disputed sea as “historic waters”, China was, in effect, directly challenging US interests in the area: freedom of navigation, not just for international shipping, but more importantly for US military forces. “Freedom of navigation and overflight principles do not apply in historic waters,” he wrote.

US efforts to undermine China’s claims in the South China Sea stem from broader strategic considerations. The Bush administration has exploited its bogus “war on terrorism” to secure closer military ties with a number of countries in Asia, including India, Japan and in Central Asia.
However, many countries in the region, including the Philippines, have become increasingly dependent on China economically as a major market and source of investment and aid.

Philippine exports to China, 80 percent of which are electronic parts, have ballooned from $3.14 billion in 2000 to $30.62 billion in 2007.

By last year, the Philippines had become the fourth biggest trader with China among ASEAN members. China and Hong Kong together displaced the US as the Philippines’ largest biggest trading partner, representing 23 percent of the country’s foreign trade. On the other hand, Philippine exports to the US fell from more than 35 percent of total exports in 1997 to just 18.3 percent by 2006.

China is competing with Australian and US multinationals in the Philippine mining industry and has reportedly invested $1 billion in the Surigao del Norte province. It has also invested $476 million in the rehabilitation of the North Luzon Railway System. By contrast with the US, which had generated resentment by refusing to sign a free trade agreement and remove subsidies for US agricultural goods, China has signed major agreements committing the Philippines to set aside 1.5 million hectares for the production of agricultural goods exclusively for the Chinese market.

In 2006, according to a New York Times report, China offered “an extraordinary package of $2 billion in loans each year for the next three years from its Export-Import Bank”. The aid offer easily trumped the “$200 million offered separately by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for that year alone” and “outstripped a $1 billion loan under negotiation with Japan”.

The Philippines hosted the second East Asian Summit in January 2007, linking ASEAN countries with China, Japan and South Korea. Australia, New Zealand and India were allowed to attend, but the US was notably absent. Concerns have been expressed in Washington that the East Asian Summit will become a means for Beijing to use its growing economic muscle to extend its regional influence. Arroyo, on the other hand, declared at the summit: “We are happy to have China as our big brother in the region.”

The rapid rise of China is profoundly destabilising economic and political relations in the Philippines. As popular opposition has grown over deepening social inequality, rising inflation and high unemployment, Arroyo and her backers have underlined her administration’s economic success story. Her claims, however, largely rest on the financial influx from China, which has contributed heavily to the relatively buoyant Philippine peso, allowing the government to pay off debts, cut the budget deficit and even pump prime the economy.

Chinese aid, investment and trade are cutting across economic ties to the US. The resurrection of the JMSU issue, and its linkage to the ZTE scandal, shows that sections of the ruling elite in Manila are concerned that longstanding strategic ties between the US and its former colony are being compromised. Growing global financial instability and economic uncertainty are compounding the tensions. The increasingly bitter factional disputes in Philippine ruling circles are not being fought out openly, but by means of a sordid scandal, now accompanied by lurid accusations of treason, with the aim of disciplining, if not removing Arroyo.

The key role in obscuring the issues and politically subordinating working people to the anti-Arroyo faction of the ruling elite is being played by the various Stalinist parties, who line up with right-wing figures in denouncing Arroyo and calling for her removal. All this plays a critical function for the ruling class in blocking the emergence of an independent political movement of the working class fighting for its own interests. (Dante Pastrana)

Resigned RP Polls Chief To File Charges Against Accusers

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 01, 2007) – The lawyer of resigned Filipino elections chief on Monday announced they will file charges against the accuser of Benjamin Abalos Sr.

Abalos resigned on Monday after being dragged into the scandal involving a $329 million proposed national broadband deal with Chinese ZTE Corp.

Lawyer Gabby Villareal said his client has prepared perjury and damage suits against former Economic Planning Secy. Romulo Neri and another suit for damages against the Jose De Venecia lll.

He said the suits will be filed in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday.

“I am resigning the chairmanship of the Comelec (Commission on Elections) effective immediately,” he said in a prepared statement to the press, adding that “it is not an admission of guilt for any wrongdoing.”

De Venecia accused Abalos of bribing him $10 million to back out put from the broadband deal which ZTE was also trying to win. De Venecia’s company, Amsterdam Holdings Incorporated, was also bidding on the project.

Neri, on the other hand, told a senate investigation, that he was allegedly offered “200” by Abalos. He said he regarded the 200 as P200 million for a favorable recommendation of the broadband deal with ZTE Corp.

Now that he has resigned, Abalos said he is able to defend himself more freely without aspersions cast on either President Gloria Arroyo, who appointed him as Comelec chairman.

“I still have four months until I am supposed to retire but I don't have to wait for that. My family has suffered too much for the vicious, maliciously concocted attacks on my person and our privacy," he said.

The Philippine News Agency has released the full text (references in Tagalog language deleted) of Abalos' resignation.

“It has been almost a week since I appeared at the Senate Committees investigating the NBN Project. I did so against the advice of my counsel and closest of friends, driven by what I expected would be the inherent fairness of a Senate inquiry and the statesmanship of our Senators.

I was sorely mistaken. I was not treated fairly. My declarations were limited to only those that my interrogators wanted to hear.

In these few days of reflection and consultation I've had with my family and closest friends, I have come to the painful determination that the time has come to separate my persons from the office I now occupy, and the institution I head.

I am resigning the chairmanship of the Comelec effective immediately.

Let not my detractors feast on this declaration. I am not admitting guilt for any wrongdoing. Neither am I giving up on my crusade to clear my name and reputation.

I made this decision to spare the Comelec from the vicious, maliciously concocted attacks on my person. On the 29th of this month, we will have another election. It is my intention that with resignation today, I shall have detached the Comelec from the controversy in which my persons is currently embroiled.

In the same way, my resignation should dispel the claims of my detractors that I am dangling so-called 'political debts' dispensed when I was supposedly 'king' during election period as a shield to fend off moves to oust me from office.

And finally, my resignation negates the accusation that this Administration is out to protect me and my incumbency.

Forty years ago, I entered public service fired with the ideals of promoting the welfare of our people and placing public interest above mine at all times.

It is for this very reason that I have resigned, subordinating my personal interest in completing the last few months of my term to the higher public interest of saving Congress from engaging in a complicated and long-drawn out impeachment process that would inevitably take its toll on the nation.

I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in the government for the mentoring, the assistance and the comfort they have given me in my years in public service. Their thoughts and goodwill have become the founding elements of the wisdom that I bear as I return to private life.

I wish to thank likewise, my family, friends and most especially the people of Mandaluyong. I thank them for bearing with me, for the aid and comfort they have given me through all these years, particularly during these trying times.

I must repeat, however, that I have not given up the fight. Having rid myself of the impression of using my office for personal ends and the burden of keeping my office and the Comelec away from the vicious attacks on my person, I am all the more determined to carry on my crusade to clear my name and reputation and exposing the lies and malicious claims thrown at me.

As I bow out of public service, I find comfort in the thought that at the end of even the longest of nights, the dawn will break. With the grace of the Almighty, I am confident that I shall see you once again, head unbowed, at daybreak.

Thank you very much.” (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Elections Chief Resigns

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 01, 2007) – Embattled Elections chief Benjamin Abalos Sr., has resigned on Monday in the middle of a senate investigation into the controversial government broadband network deal with China.

Abalos announced his resignation and apparently caught government officials by surprise. He said last week that he will not resign despite accusations that he brokered the national broadband network contract with ZTE Corp. in behalf of the government.

“With the resignation of Chairman Abalos, a chapter has just been closed but not the whole book. Justice must be pursued to its logical end in the ZTE affair. I call on President Arroyo to appoint an immediate replacement who can restore the people’s faith in Philippine democracy,” Senator Mar Roxas said.

He also urged President Arroyo to create a high-level commission composed of men and women of known probity and independence that will look into every facet of the ZTE deal.

“Let the chips fall where they may. It is time that the administration spares no sacred cows, and commits to the policy of transparency and accountability,” he said.

Abalos said he resigned because the allegations affected him and his family. Abalos has denied all accusations against him.

Jose de Venecia III, of the Amsterdam Holdings Incorporated, accused Abalos of offering him $10 million to back out from the broadband deal.

De Venecia, the son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, was ZTE’s rival for the national broadband contract. Romulo Neri, former Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority, also accused Abalos of bribing him.

De Venecia said the broadband deal was probably worth only $130 million, but this suddenly ballooned to $329 million.

He said President Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, also told him to back off from the deal. Arroyo’s lawyers have denied the allegations.

Representative Liza Maza on Monday Abalos’ resignation should not close down investigations on the national broadband scandal and that all those involved in the deal should be made accountable.

”Abalos' resignation is but an initial victory as we probe deeper into the NBN-ZTE deal and other anomalies in the Arroyo administration,” Maza said.

She said Abalos' resignation could be a move to pre-empt further investigations into the anomalous contract that could implicate the President and her husband.

“This is why both Houses of Congress should not back down on the inquiries. It is possible that Abalos is just a fall-guy in this multi-billion dollar scam,” she said.

”In the course of the investigations, there are documents that have emerged indicating Mrs. Arroyo herself authorized Trade Secretary Peter Favila and Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza full authority to approve the NBN-ZTE contract even before the National Economic and Development Authority had a chance to assess the program and the contract,” she said.

The President has suspended indefinitely the national broadband network project because of the controversy. Government spokesmen also denied all accusations against the President and her husband.

Ignacio Bunye, Press Secretary and Arroyo’s spokesman, said: “We respect his decision and appreciate his desire to protect his family and the Commission on Elections from vicious politics. We wish him well as he carries on his fight to clear his name.”

Philippine Senate Probes Controversial China Broadband Project

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 20 Sept) – The Philippine Senate ended late Thursday a series of investigation into the controversial $330-million proposed national broadband network by a Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE Corporation.

Sen. Mar Roxas debunked the government’s claim that P4.7 billion in government’s communication expenses will be saved as a result of the project which seeks to connect government offices in the country, where many areas are still without telephone and Internet connections.

“Do not say that this P4.7 billion will actually be all totally saved, because a huge portion of this is really government communicating with the citizens,” he said at the joint hearing of the Senate trade & commerce, blue ribbon and defense committees.

“You’re using these numbers not to help clarify but to further confuse,” Roxas, the Senate trade committee chairman, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

He said he was “offended” by Transportation and Communications Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso’s claim that the government communications savings yearly will be P4.7 billion, which would include expenses of the national government, government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units.

He said that the NBN project will only serve the communication linkage between government offices, and that the usual costs will be applied when outside calls, especially international calls, will be made.

Upon Roxas’ questioning, Formoso agreed that when calls go outside the NBN, access charges would have to be paid. When asked further as to the portion of this P4.7 billion which are IDD or other outside calls, Formoso said he did not know.

At Formoso’s answer, Roxas said, “You cannot say that by implementing the NBN project that we will be saving this entire amount or this amount excluding P1 billion which is the annual amortization expense, because you do not know how much will continue to be spent by government talking to the outside world.”

“When you answer my colleagues, please answer clearly because otherwise you are serving to obfuscate the issue and not help clarify it,” he told Formoso.Formoso also failed to answer when Roxas asked him how many of the more than 1,500 municipalities have telephone connections and would benefit from the project.

Roxas strongly urged President Gloria Arroyo to cancel the project or any agreement between the Philippines and China to be covered by a foreign loan.

“Just say No, Mrs. President” Roxas said, pointing out that since the loan has not been obtained, the Philippines can still back out of the deal. He said the ZTE broadband deal was an apparent attempt by unscrupulous “power-wielders” to take advantage of the people’s lack of familiarity with new technology to earn millions in commissions.

He said the legitimacy of the ZTE broadband deal would still be questionable because the idea behind the project is flawed.

Roxas said aside from the scandals and controversies attached to it, the ZTE broadband deal also fails on three counts – there is no urgent need for a national broadband network; lack of information on what the government is buying and insufficient studies and disregard of proper bidding procedures.

“It’s like government spending people’s money to buy for their own use a high-definition, state-of-the art television set rather than setting aside this same amount to provide schools and classrooms with basic computers and even just an ordinary colored TV,” Roxas said.

He also likened the broadband deal to government officials buying PDAs when schoolchildren do not even have pencils to write with.

“Based on the provisions of the supply contract alone, it is obvious that this multi-million dollar contract was driven by supply and not demand, for short-term personal gain, and not for the people’s long-term benefit,” Roxas said.

Roxas said canceling the contract will not result in any serious impairment of our diplomatic relations with China and will actually demonstrate the shared desire of both countries to serve the paramount interest of the Filipino people.

He noted that the overpriced contract is about a year’s worth of EVAT revenues arising from a 12% rate, up from the previous 10%, or about P15 billion. Under this agreement, every Filipino would shoulder a huge 20-year loan for a project that may become obsolete in less than two years.

“This project is not critically important. It is overpriced and failed to go through the standard bidding process. The people have said No to this. The Senate is against it. The Supreme Court has issued a TRO against it. Mrs. President, there is nothing honorable about this contract. The time has come for you to simply just say no.”