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THE
announcement by China’s telecoms giant ZTE Co. that it
preferred appearing before the “proper juridical body”
rather than the Philippine Senate in connection with the
ongoing inquiry into the aborted $329-million national
broadband network (NBN) deal drew adverse reactions
Thursday.
Sen. Mar
Roxas II, chairman of one of three Senate panels
conducting the hearing, said the ZTE statement “reveals
their contempt for our government and our nation.”
Roxas,
who cochairs the ongoing investigation into the NBN-ZTE
anomaly, advised ZTE officials they have no reason to
panic if they broke no law.
“If
indeed they are innocent, then they have nothing to be
afraid of,” Roxas said, but added that “clearly their (ZTE
officials) evasion of the Senate hearings lends
credibility to the allegations [of irregularities
attending the aborted transaction].”
The idea
to summon ZTE executives had been raised by some
senators precisely to respond to concerns that the
inquiry may be too media-driven or fueled by political
intrigue, and hence is limited to uncorroborated
testimonies.
They
said that since the crux of the allegations is the
alleged commissions that bloated the tag price, then the
Chinese company must be asked to explain its side.
For his
part, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan warned
that ZTE officials and other parties could be arrested
if they ignore summons to testify before the NBN
inquiry, and the Senate “will not hesitate to exercise
our constitutional powers to fulfill our
responsibilities.”
He said
the “Philippine Senate cannot be cowed by threats of
hardball tactics coming from persons, as well as foreign
or local corporations, ZTE included.”
Senate
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. suggested earlier
that senators may ask Hong Kong Bourse authorities to
delist ZTE if its representatives continue to ignore
Senate summons to shed light on the allegations.
At the
same time, Sen. Richard Gordon asked Senate probers to
seek the assistance of Hong Kong regulators in going
after ZTE officials on the ground that there may have
been a misuse of the money of Hong Kong investors in the
publicly listed company.
“We know
that China is trying to live up to the rule of law and
is not likely to sweep the alleged ZTE bribery case
under the rug,” Gordon said, adding “it behooves the
Chinese authorities to get ZTE on carpet to explain
whether the things alleged to have been committed by
company officials in Manila really happened.”
Pimentel
told the BusinessMirror that the senators should force
the issue on the appearance of ZTE officials at the
ongoing Senate inquiry into the NBN deal by issuing a
subpoena to the firm’s chairman Fu Yong and Fan Yang,
the commercial attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
“If they
refuse to appear, the Senate can cite them for contempt,
hold Yong and ask China to recall Yang,” he said.
Gordon
reiterated his recommendation at the Senate NBN hearing
to have the Chinese government reveal other bribery
instances involving millions of dollars.
He asked
Sen. Alan Cayetano, the blue-ribbon committee chairman,
to communicate formally with the Chinese Embassy to find
out if one of their corporations, a
government-controlled company, has offered or
transferred money to high Filipino officials—including
officials of constitutional bodies like the Commission
on Elections.”
Gordon
pointed out that in corruption cases, “there is a
bribe-giver and a bribe-taker.”
He noted
that testimonies aired by witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. at
the Senate hearings indicated that “at least $2 million
had been advanced by China’s ZTE to [former Comelec
chairman Benjamin Abalos].”
“The
bribe-giver is often regarded in usual circumstances as
the victim, especially if the bribe- taker does not
deliver the goods. The Chinese government, who is our
country’s friend and partner in development, should be
able to help us find out the veracity of the incident.
“This
will help their State company to recover money that was
spirited away from them and help us bring erring
officials to justice.” |
