Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Ledesma: The plot By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
WHAT makes the DOTC and the CyberEd national broadband independent network veritable scams in the making were the hush-hush planning and the gargantuan sum of money that has to be spent for the redundant projects.
What added to the unconscionable plot was that we were initially told that the DOTC NBN project was to be undertaken by "Build-Operate-Transfer" scheme.
With that arrangement nobody complained. Along the way however, I think they suddenly realized that before they can go halfway their estimated return of investment, the system must already be obsolete. You know how fast digital technology evolves.
Thus I suspect that the sudden change in the nature of undertaking from BOT to supply and installation contract was a modus vivendi between DOTC and ZTE. After that the project started to stink.
I too suspect that Joey de Venecia having been in the know of what DOTC and ZTE were brewing was not really sulking for losing in the BOT scheme. He must have smelled turkey when the contract was altered.
I think he knew that that bull... about the contract getting lost was actually a ploy to change the terms of the shady deal.
Benjamin Abalos who, at his age, I suspect can only play one hole, must indeed have some friends among the golfing ZTE officials. It was not farfetched that he was asked to intercede and mediate. There was a dire need to craft a new contract and having done that they have to deal with Joey.
It is therefore possible that indeed they attempted to bribe Joey DV. The negotiation was being worked out otherwise shouldn't we be surprised why Joey DV was at Wack Wack club house along with Mendoza, Abalos, Mike A and maybe an incognito ZTE rep?
I have been piecing some thoughts why there was change in the contract undertaking. We all know that GMA had prescribed only BOT scheme. When she stood there watching the signing of the contract, I am certain that that was a BOT deal.
When the contract suddenly disappeared into thin air the plot thickens.
There is no kickback in BOT. But there can be oodles of money to grease the deal if it were for supply and installation.
If I were President Arroyo I will go ahead scrap the entire deal. If ZTE is true to its words that the $329-million is there for any which way the Philippines needs it, then let's go ahead sign the loan and use it for other projects of top priority. Like how many irrigation dams can that money make? How many classrooms can that loan build? Maybe they can even spare us a little for our Bankerohan bridge. Or, if the telecom giants say they cannot provide the necessary infrastructures that DOTC and DepEd need, then let us proceed building that national broadband network. But the bidding should be transparent.
BTW, Sen. Dick Gordon called me up last Sunday that he is talking with Singapore Airline to provide a regular cargo aircraft that would ferry Mindanao fruits to neighboring countries. He said that he is about to firm up shipment of Davao fruits to Maldives. Wow!
Senator Gordon is the kind of politician we want these days. He has clear vision of where, what and how to do things to improve the economic conditions of the farmers. Carry on, sir!
