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AT least
16 senators signed separate arrest orders for former
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) chief
Romulo Neri and his consultant Rodolfo Lozada to compel
their appearance before the ongoing Senate inquiry into
the controversial $330-million national broadband
network project awarded—later scuttled—to the ZTE Corp.
of China.
Neri and
Lozada were cited in contempt and warrants of arrest
issued against them for ignoring formal summons to
testify at the joint hearings of the blue-ribbon, trade
and commerce and defense committees on the allegedly
overpriced project aborted by Malacañang in the wake of
a scandal implicating administration officials,
including the President’s husband, Mike Arroyo.
“Legally, we met all the requirements [needed to serve
warrants on Neri and Lozada]; we have the support of
majority of members of the three committees involved in
the ZTE-broadband deal inquiry,”
according to Sen. Alan Cayetano, chairman of the lead
blue-ribbon committee.
He
confirmed that 16 senators signed the arrest order for
Lozada who left for abroad early Wednesday morning,
while 13 senators signed the order to arrest Neri.
Besides
Cayetano, those who signed the contempt citation and
arrest orders were: Sen. Mar Roxas, who chairs the trade
and commerce committee; Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of
the defense committee; and Sens. Pia Cayetano-Sebastian,
Juan Ponce Enrile, Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon,
Gregorio Honasan, Bong Revilla, Noynoy Aquino, Panfilo
Lacson, Jamby Madrigal, Loren Legarda and Senate
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
After
Senate President Manuel Villar affixed his signature,
the contempt citation and arrest orders were transmitted
to the Senate sergeant-at-arms for immediate
implementation. It held Neri and Lozada liable for
failure to appear and testify in the joint hearings
despite personal notice and said their absence has
“delayed, impeded and obstructed the inquiry into the
subject reported irregularities.”
Both
Neri and Lozada were cited in contempt and ordered
arrested and detained in the Office of the Senate
sergeant-at-arms “until such time that they will appear
and give their testimonies.”
Senate
President Villar ordered retired General Jose Balajadia,
the Senate sergeant-at-arms, to carry out and implement
the two orders and make a return within 24 hours from
its enforcement.
Lozada,
chief executive officer of the state-run Philippine
Forest Corp. (Philforest), took off for the
United Kingdom
via Hong Kong aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR300.
The
radio was filled with speculations that Lozada left in a
hurry due to threats on his life.
Lozada’s
name was mentioned in a published report last weekend as
the “surprise witness” in the ongoing investigation.
Sources
at the airport said Lozada showed up at the Centennial
Terminal 2 at about 5 a.m. to take the 8 a.m. flight
without any luggage except a carry-on bag.
It was
reported that Lozada is on an official travel, having
been granted travel authority by Philforest and his
travel papers signed by Maryanne Saring (not sure if I
heard her surname right), the Undersecretary for
Administration, Finance and Legal Departments.
Lozada
was to appear before the Senate probers at 3 p.m.
Wednesday, together with Joey de Venecia III, the son of
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who blew the whistle on the
cancelled contract.
Lozada
was allegedly present at some meetings attended by Neri,
including one attended by Arroyo, but was not present
during the Wack-Wack “back off” incident, according to
Joey de Venecia.
In a
radio interview with Arnold Clavio and Ali Sotto, the
young de Venecia said he talked to Lozada in an
undisclosed place Tuesday evening where the latter told
him of his reluctance to appear as a witness because of
the threat to his life.
“He [Lozada]
told me, ‘Joey, I am tired, there is a death threat, I’m
worried about my wife and my children.’”
Because
of Lozada’s absence, de Venecia said it would be
pointless for him to proceed to the Senate to testify
again, since his motive is only to corroborate what the
former has to say as far as the broadband deal is
concerned.
Mendoza’s appeal
SECRETARY Leandro R. Mendoza of the Department of
Transportation and Communications (DOTC) appealed to the
Senate to conduct an “independent panel review” into the
costing of the ZTE-national broadband network contract
in connection with its investigation of the project.
Mendoza
made the appeal as he branded the report submitted by
Joey de Venecia, losing bidder in the NBN project, as
“biased” and without basis. Mendoza said the de Venecia
report “should not be given credence.”
Mendoza
made the request in a letter to Sen. Alan Cayetano,
chairman of the Committee on Accountability of Public
Officers and Investigations (blue ribbon). As a
telecommunications project, the proposed NBN network is
under the supervision of the DOTC.
Mendoza
rejected as “a work of propaganda” the evaluation report
on the ZTE-NBN project which was submitted by Joey de
Venecia III, whose firm, Amsterdam Holdings. had lost
the bidding for the project to ZTE Corp. In the report,
the de Venecia panel claimed the project requirements
were “overpriced.”
Based on
a study conducted by Lorenzo G. Formoso III, assistant
DOTC secretary for telecommunications, Mendoza dismissed
the de Venecia evaluation report as biased and “totally
unsupported by verifiable facts or sources, lacking the
imprimatur of attributable and accountable experts …
[and] solely a product of the author’s subjective
perception or misperception.”
The DOTC
chief added that the de Venecia panel also gave “no firm
quotations from integrators/suppliers, gave
miscalculation of relevant figures, misapprehension of
network design and outright misstatements.”
The
report lacked verifiable factual basis because it made
its estimates by lump sum, while the valuation of ZTE
was based on a detailed Bill of Quantity (BOQ) detailing
the materials needed and specifying their costs, Mendoza
said.
“But the
real fundamental and bad faith omission of [de Venecia’s]
evaluation is its failure to state plainly that the
price schedule was budgetary price subject to the
assumption of network design, the final price subject to
actual site survey,” said Mendoza. This omission “is
fatal as it renders the [report] meaningless for
quantification and final pricing is to determined only
at Design Freeze, in accordance with accepted government
procurement activities.” |
