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ZTE
Corp., China’s biggest publicly listed
telecommunications company, on Tuesday said it did not
bribe or solicit services from anyone just so
its multimillion dollar contract for the national
broadband network (NBN) project would be accepted by the
government.
Howard
Xue, ZTE global marketing director and chief information
technology consultant, said in an e-mail that he feels
“frustrated” that even if he speaks up, the truth, he
said, “still cannot reach the public.”
“We
tried to let the public know the facts about NBN and ZTE. All
our voices were covered by more eye-catching stories
full of misleading information. The government,
including the business groups, are misled on our
project,” said Xue.
For one,
Xue said the allegation about ZTE bribery to Chairman
Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections and other
government officials are not true.
“ZTE has
completed numerous bigger projects around the world. We
have proposed the best price, financing and technical
proposal, and we are confident of beating all our
competitors, so there is absolutely no need to bribe
anybody to get the project,” he said.
Xue said
he would like to discuss further about the malicious
attacks against ZTE, including its supposed relation
with Abalos, but can not, citing the subjudice rule.
“Unfortunately, because of this subjudice rule, we can
not answer these in detail. We shall clarify these
issues through proper legal procedures and before the
proper forum,” said Xue.
He said
Jose de Venecia III, the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia
Jr., should likewise do the same.
Incidentally, Xue said a company, which the younger de
Venecia used to partly own, owed ZTE $10 million and has
also $3.6 million in overdue charges. During the time
when de Venecia chaired the board, ZTE signed a supply
contract with the company, which Xue did not identify,
and delivered all the equipment and the services in
accordance with the contract.
Yet, he
added, de Venecia sold his shares to new investors,
“leaving with them the financial burden. Later on, we
have heard that he wanted to buy back the company for
the NBN project. The stockholders, however, refused his
request,” said Xue.
De
Venecia, who heads losing project proponent Amsterdam
Holdings Inc. (AHI), could not possibly win the
broadband project because his company lacks the
financial and technical resources, Xue said.
“So, the
question the public should ask is, can a start-up
company—without capital and track record—win the bid for
the NBN project?” asked the Chinese official.
He said
AHI’s proposal is disadvantageous to the Philippine
government because it covers only the first-, second-
and some third-class cities and municipalities. If it
were to expand its coverage nationwide, the
Transportation department, added Xue, estimated that
AHI’s proposal could even amount to $1 billion.
Further,
there is no clear financing solution yet presented by
AHI. “AHI’s proposal is mainly focused on building a new
mobile network to compete with current operators to get
revenue and profit. It has no contribution to other
government goals,” added Xue.
The deal
to supply a broadband network linking Philippine
government agencies by ZTE, signed in April, was stopped
however last week by the Supreme Court after lawmakers
said the contract was overpriced.
Meanwhile, President Arroyo on Tuesday ordered
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to appear
before the Supreme Court and explain the government’s
national broadband network (NBN) project.
Mrs.
Arroyo announced the directive in her opening statement
at the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)
Board meeting, shortly after businessman Jose de Venecia
III accused her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, of
involvement in the ZTE deal.
“I am
ordering Secretary Mendoza to appear before the Supreme
Court and explain the national broadband network case.
The judicial process does not involve politics and is
purely based on evidence. It can fully weigh whether the
deal is lawful and for the good of the country,” she
said.
The
President, who made no reference to allegations against
her husband, added that the government is “also prepared
to cooperate in the Ombudsman’s investigation into
allegations of graft pending there.”
Nacionalista Party Rep. Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya
earlier filed graft charges before the Ombudsman against
Mendoza,
Transportation Assistant Secretaries Lorenzo Formosa and
Elmer Soneja, and ZTE officials.
The
President’s husband’s spokesman, lawyer Jesus Santos,
said in a statement that Mr. Arroyo “does not, and will
never interfere, in any government transaction.”
“I
therefore appeal to detractors of the government to
spare the President’s husband from their rumor mills and
black propaganda. The only thing he wants now is help
the poor and the sick in his own little way to and live
life in peace,” Santos said.
He also
stressed that Arroyo’s trip to Spain on Monday was
pre-planned even before his major heart surgery in April
and was not especially timed to dodge the Senate inquiry
on the ZTE deal.
Santos
noted that before Arroyo’s departure, his name “has not
been mentioned at anytime on the ZTE controversy,
neither has he been invited to the Senate inquiry. So to
even insinuate that he is trying to avoid the issue is
totally unfair.”
He said
that Arroyo’s doctors had approved his trip as he is
already fit to travel, and had even accompanied the
President in the 15th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Leaders’ Meeting in
Sydney,
Australia
earlier this month. |
