Noypi.ph: De Venecia Gives Statement on NBN-ZTE Deal

De Venecia Gives Statement on NBN-ZTE Deal
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Elmira Joson-Rivera on 01/25/2012 19:52:00

It has been about five years since the controversial National Broadband Network
(NBN)-ZTE Corporation Deal blew up and implicated a long list of government
officials in a graft case.

But, it is only now that former House Speaker Jose de Venecia is able to testify
before the Sandiganbayan.  De Venecia confirmed the supposedly secret meeting of
former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with the officials of ZTE Corporation
in Shenzhen, China.   ZTE was the company to which the $329-million NBN project
was awarded.  He narrated the events that transpired after he and his wife were
invited by Arroyo for game of golf.
After meeting with Arroyo and her husband at their hotel in Hong Kong, their
group rode a coaster that took them to the golf course which de Venecia later
learned to be in Shenzhen.  De Venecia also said that he was surprised to find
out when they got to the golf course that they were to be joined by former
Commission on Elections (COMELEC) commissioner Benjamin Abalos Jr.  and the
officials of ZTE.  When they finished their round of golf, De Venecia said they
went to have lunch at the ZTE headquarters where they were toured around the
facilities and the officials appeared to “sell” the company to Arroyo.   He
also revealed that there was a local banker present during their lunch who
offered to grant a loan facility to fund the project in the Philippines.
The NBN project was intended to interconnect the different government offices
all over the country via broadband technology.  De Venecia’s son, Joey, owned
one of the companies that offered bids for the project.  He was also one of the
whistleblowers who gave their statements at the Senate to expose the
overpricing, kickbacks, and bribery involved in sealing the deal with ZTE. 
Because of all the brouhaha and the graft cases against the Department of
Transportation and Communication and ZTE officials that were filed with the
Office of the Ombudsman, Arroyo did not have a choice but to cancel the contract
altogether.
Although De Venecia’s statement did not serve to confirm specific acts of
collusion or any actual anomalous agreements, it does give credence to claims
that such a secret meeting took place.  De Venecia was eventually unseated as
House Speaker despite his close relations and strong support for Arroyo.  His
willingness to spill the beans on what he knows about the NBN-ZTE deal,
according to him, is borne out of the need “to serve the ends of justice in
our country.”
Photo:  coconuter.blogspot.com