Businessmen complain to China of ZTE scam

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Filipino business leaders have taken the extraordinary step of telling China about their dismay with the graft-ridden ZTE deal. And with six major business groups complaining, Beijing is expected to heed the unease since it seeks brisker trade and investments between the two countries.

Writing to Chinese embassy chargé d’ affaires Deng Xijun on Sept. 21, the business leaders said they lack “reliable public information about this transaction . . . for the supply of a national broadband network.” The Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Bishop-Businessmen’s Conference, Foundation for Economic Freedom, and Action for Economic Reforms attributed this to the alleged loss of the contracts “right after they were signed on 21 April 2007 at Boao, Hainan.”

“Despite requests from members of Philippine civil society, including our organizations who invoke the constitutional right to transparency, the Philippine government has not released a copy of the reconstituted contract,” the leaders said.

Signing the letter were former finance secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr. as MBC chairman, former ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario as MAP president, Abelardo Cortez as Finex president, former senator Vicente Paterno as BBC co-chairman, former economic secretary Felipe Medalla as FEF chairman, and Filomeno Sta. Ana as AER coordinator.

They expressed elation that China “is taking steps to ensure the transparency of this transaction.” They noted the assurance of Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jien Chao that Beijing will take seriously allegations of corruption. Liu spoke at the sidelights of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney three weeks ago, on the eve of a Senate inquiry that elicited testimonies of bribery.

The businessmen attached to the letter their two position papers on the ZTE scam that also became newspaper ads. The first, on June 7, urged President Gloria Arroyo in vain to cancel the contract since the $330-million (P16-billion) price could be better used to build 36,000 classrooms, or 6,000 rural health clinics, or 120,000 artesian wells. The second, on Sept. 7, assailed a “culture of impunity” in which high officials believe they can get away with scandalous dealings.

The groups also yearned for closer ties between the Philippines and China in spite of the contentious telecoms supply deal that experts say is unnecessary yet overpriced.

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Before urging Romy Neri via columns to tell all he knows about the deal, I consulted respected elders in the media. I was agonizing between journalism and patriotism, and asked if higher interest like stopping crime against the country should make me reveal what a public official has told me, even if it endangers both our lives. I also recalled that Romy himself said I should make a sacrifice as a journalist whose dedication must be to truth. From it came out two columns on consecutive Mondays detailing some of the frightening items Romy has confided since April 20, when my first full-length article on ZTE came out in The STAR.

Colleagues with whom I’ve pounded beats in the ’80s and thus know me enough understood the dilemma. Ramon Tulfo of the Inquirer even encouraged me in his column yesterday. Coming from left field, however, is Belinda Cunanan, also of the Inquirer, who in her column also yesterday sounded like she was driving a wedge between Romy and me. She prefaced that Romy had refused to divulge some details during his Senate testimony. And with that, she claimed, “Bondoc angrily said that since Neri doesn’t want to do so, he would do that for him, never mind that doing so could stoke another controversy.”

Angry? When, where? Agonizing is a far cry from angry. Bel knows my phone number; she often calls me for details about my columns. I wonder why she didn’t do so now that she compares our journalism. I remember when months ago I happened to share with fellow columnists over dinner the frightening tidbits I was then unearthing about the ZTE deal. I happened to have mentioned some big names, and Bel snapped at me, saying if that were so I should dare my sources to bring up charges in court. That’s what’s happening now, Bel, so please don’t stand in the way.

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Will Malacañang never stop maligning the young investigator whom they sacked for initiating a probe of the ZTE scam?

The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission spread a story to all media Monday detailing alleged violations of confidentiality rules by Vida Bocar, whom they fired on June 18. The implication was that Bocar had committed a grave offense in writing me for documentary evidence on a government anomaly I had unearthed.

The smear campaign against Bocar is part of a continuing cover-up that includes an alleged theft of documents.

I had refuted on television the false claims of PAGC chief Constancia de Guzman that they conducted an investigation. I said no examination was made because they sacked the examiner. She then claimed that their investigations had to stop when the Ombudsman took over. I rebutted again that during the nine weeks between Bocar’s sacking in June and Rep. Carlos Padilla’s filing of an Ombudsman case on Aug. 29, no one else from the PAGC approached me for evidence. Whereupon de Guzman claimed that they didn’t have to talk to me since my sources gave them documents. Really? Who? Please tell me, instead of picking on Bocar.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Pruweba ng kurakot nasa ZTE contract

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Tuesday, October 2, 2007

UNTI-UNTI lumalabas ang pruweba ng kurakot sa ZTE deal. Nakakuha si Sen. Ping Lacson ng kopya ng kontrata — pirmado nina DOTC Sec. Larry Mendoza at ZTE vice president Yu Yong nu’ng Abril 21. Nakalaan du’n ang $118.6 milyon para sa engineering services at $14.9 milyon sa managed services, o pinagsamang $133.5 milyon nang kabuuang $329.5 milyong presyo. Ayon sa mga eksperto sa telecoms, ang industry standard sa services ay 18 percent ng total, pero sa ZTE deal umaabot sa 41 percent. Dito pa lang, makikitang padded ang presyo — at dito malamang nakatago ang kickbacks. Kung sagad na 18 percent ang services, dapat ay $59.3 milyon lang ito; lumalabas na may kickback na $74.2 milyon.

Maaring bahagi pa lang ‘yon ng kickback. Nang unang madiskubre ni whistleblower Joey de Venecia nu’ng Disyembre 27 ang ZTE bid na bino-broker umano ni Ben Abalos, ang presyo ay $262 milyon. At mula rito, nabatid niya na $130 milyon ang overprice. Nang pirmahan ang kontrata nu’ng Abril 21, naging $329.5 milyon na; nadagdagan nang $67.5 milyon ang overprice. Alam ni Romy Neri kung bakit ito lumaki. Halos $200 milyon (P10 bilyon) ang kabuuang overprice.

Sa gayon, $74.2 milyon pa lang ng $200 milyong kotong ang natukoy. Maaring nakatago ang iba pang overprice sa bill of materials. Kabilang ito sa Annexes A hanggang K ng kontrata. Kaso mo, ayaw itong isapubliko ng ZTE. Pina-subpoena ito ng Senado. Nu’ng Martes, Setyembre 25 nagdala ng iisang set ng annexes ang isang pulutong na abogado sa Blue-Ribbon Committee. Binalaan nila ang committee staff na huwag i-photocopy ang dokumentos. Kesyo raw confidential dapat ang proprietary information.

Kalokohan ito. Walang confidentiality ng proprietary information sa pangongontrata sa gobyerno. Ayon sa Saligang Batas, dapat ay lantad lahat ng impormasyong may kinalaman sa interes ng publiko, May interes ang bayan dito dahil mamamayang Pilipino ang pagbabayarin ng $329.5 milyon (P16 bilyon), sa 3 percent interes sa loon nang 20 taon. Makatarungan bang pagbayarin tayo nang kahit anong ayaw natin o hindi natin alam?

Katotohanan mananaig sa ZTE, miski guluhin

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc
Monday, October 1, 2007

KAHIT bali-baliktarin ng mga taga-depensa ng ZTE deal ang istorya, may mga katotohanang hindi mababali.

Una: Pinirmahan nina DOTC Sec. Leandro Mendoza at ZTE Corp. vice president Yu Yong ang “supply contract” sa Boao airport, Hainan, China, nu’ng Abril 21, 2007. Witness pa nga si President Gloria Arroyo, na iniwan ang mister na kaoopera pa lang sa puso. Kung ninakaw man o tinago lang nila ang umaalingasngas na kontrata, ang malinaw ay ni hindi kumibo si Arroyo.

Malinaw din na hindi “memorandum of agreement” kundi supply contract ang pinirmahan. Kaya hindi mai­kakaila na obligado na ang gobyerno na tuparin ito miski hindi kailangan at itinatago sa publiko.

Malinaw din na sa gitna ng election period na Enero 15-Hunyo 15 in-award ang kontrata. Labag ito sa Omnibus Election Code. Ang parusa: Anim na taon pagka­bilanggo at permanenteng bawal na sa public office.

Ikalawa, may dalawang inetsapuwerang kakompi- ten­siya ang ZTE Corp. Nag-offer ang Arescom Inc, ng US na i-supply ang parehong ekwipo ng ZTE sa ha­ lagang $135 milyon lamang. Offer naman ng Amsterdam Holdings Inc. na gumasta ng sariling $240 milyon. Sa ZTE: $330 milyon.

Hindi natalo sa bidding ang Arescom at AHI dahil walang naganap na bidding. Ani nina Mendoza at DOJ Sec. Raul Gonzalez, executiive agreement kuno kaya wala nang bidding-bidding pa para sa napakalaking halagang proyekto.

Ikatlo, si Chairman Ben Abalos na mismo ang umamin sa DZMM at DZBB na apat na beses siyang bumiyahe sa Shenzhen nu’ng 2006 sagot ng ZTE executives. Isang paglabag ito sa Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, na nagbabawal ang pagtanggap ng mahalagang regalo.

Baliin na ng mga taga-depensa sa ZTE deal ang ilang detalye para guluhin ang kuwento. Pero hindi mababali ang katotohanan. Tiyak ‘yon.

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Lumiham sa jariusbondoc@workmail.com

I understand why Neri couldn’t talk

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, October 1, 2007

I called Romy Neri right after testifying Sept. 18 in that first Senate hearing on the ZTE scam. It was our tenth talk about the issue since Apr. 20, when The STAR ran my first of a series of articles. I pried why he didn’t show up, if he was under any threat of harm, and when he’ll reveal all he knows. From his replies it was clear he was charily weighing the consequences. There’s a time and place for everything, he mused, then asked if what he has narrated to me thus far would “incite another EDSA.” I said I didn’t know, but that I do wish the Senate inquiry would spark a wave of reforms, starting with clean elections. He shared the dream, but doubted if it would come true soon. Our talk eventually led to sacrificing for the sake of the nation. He said Joey de Venecia was brave to implicate big names, adding that if push comes to shove the young whistleblower fortunately has a rich dad to fall back on. “I’m not affluent,” Romy stated the obvious. Neither am I, I reminded him. Whereupon, he shot back: “Oh, but you’re a journalist, you’re supposed to be dedicated to the truth.”

Yes, in this calling our first instinct is to truth and justice, at all costs. So with Romy’s words in mind I must disclose what he has told me. I know I might get him and myself into deep trouble with powerful persons. But that is journalism. Too, in my hierarchy of values, God is first, country next, family and friends third, and myself bottom. Patriotic duty calls.

Romy bared many frightening things when he called me morning of Apr. 20. I had written that the government was rushing to award the ZTE contract the next day in Boao, China, and that the NEDA, which he headed then, had approved the overpriced telecoms supply in a huff. Before I could ask anything, Romy blurted three items in succession: “This deal was the handiwork of Ricky Razon and Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos ... I warned President Arroyo about this, and also told Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. ... Abalos tried to bribe me P200 million.”

I was stunned, and asked him to start over again by answering some basic questions. Like, how the NEDA got involved in this, and why a build-operate-transfer project suddenly became a negotiated supply purchase. He said “NEDA had to make an evaluation any which way.” Too, the law “allows the President to waive ODA (overseas development assistance) rules in a bilateral or government-to-government agreement.” He stressed that NEDA had no capacity to determine any overpricing, then explained the three steps in any NEDA project review.

Three times Romy repeated he had warned Arroyo about the deal. He told her about the bribe offer, and she allegedly replied “then don’t accept it, but work on the approvals just the same.” He said Arroyo kept blaming Joey for the mess that was then brewing.

The culprits in this deal, he said, are “ZTE Corp., Razon, Abalos — and one more....” When I asked why his NEDA approved the ZTE proposal when he knew all along it was stinky, he said, “GMA was pushing it, and it’s our job to process.” With pain in his voice, Romy said he had almost resigned the day before.

“My life is in your hands,” Romy cautioned towards the end. He said Abalos had wiretapped one of his staff, and Razon had once threatened him at a cocktail party hosted by the Speaker.

Before he hung up, Romy said that my exposé had the potential to mar the administration’s chances in the May election. It was so explosive, he counseled, so I must be very careful. He also said he would fire off a Letter to the Editor to clarify his role, in view of the sensitive info he had just shared.

I expect Romy to get mad at me initially. He already did because of my column last Monday, which his friends said put him in peril for hinting at what he might testify to. I apologized to him Tuesday, explaining that I intended his potential tormentors to realize, for his safety, that some other persons and I know what he knows. Too, that I wanted corroboration of Joey’s testimony.

I also expect Romy to understand in the end. He was feverish and coughing when he testified Wednesday. The media have since praised him for boldly divulging Abalos’s bribe attempt, but also pilloried him for hedging on matters involving higher officials. Some even mocked him for downplaying his role at NEDA as presidential co-chair of major projects, making it look like he wasn’t worth a P200-million payoff to begin with.

But then news reports have it that Romy was ready to bare all during the executive session at 9 p.m., just that he was having chills. I pray I can help him with this. Before the hearing I offered Romy a prayer for fortitude. He said he was more courageous than us. I don’t doubt it.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com