Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Palace lawyer orders halt on broadband deal debate
CHIEF presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol has called for a ceasefire on all comments, talks, and accusations surrounding the controversial US$330 million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China's ZTE Corporation until pending investigations are resolved.
Apostol said the court should be allowed to weigh evidence and decide on the case.
He said controversies linking Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. should also end after things were clear between him and Finance secretary Margarito Teves who earlier linked him to the deal. Teves later apologized to Abalos and clarified that he got things mixed up.
Teves had said that Abalos invited him to a meeting in Mandaluyong City with ZTE officials but the finance chief later said it was Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza who extended the invitation.
Apostol further commented that the issue may even lead to sub judice after former congressman now Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) asking for the declaration of the contract as null and void. Suplico is also asking for a restraining order on the contract.
He added that allegations against Abalos is unfair, particularly calls for his resignation and threats of impeachment. "There is no evidence against him. He never interfered, according to secretary Teves, he just played golf and met these guys but talked nothing about the contract," Apostol said.
Both Abalos and Teves met at the Wack Wack golf club in Mandaluyong City by accident when Teves, Mendoza and some ZTE Corporation executives were there.
Abalos, a former Mandaluyong City mayor and a previous president of Wack Wack Country Club, said when he saw the group he dropped by to say "hello" and later left and that there was "no discussion about the ZTE contract."
He added that he initially introduced Teves to the ZTE officials long before because they were interested in putting up a processing plant in Davao. (JMR/Sunnex)
