Thursday, February 21, 2008 HK government help sought on NBN probe
SENATOR Aquilino Pimentel Jr. asked the Senate to avail of the country's Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Hong Kong to compel its government authorities to help the Philippine government in obtaining information in connection with the ongoing investigation on the national broadband network (NBN) controversy.
Pimentel came up with the suggestion in view of the refusal of ZTE Corporation, a listed company in the Hong Kong stock exchange, to cooperate in the Senate inquiry into the alleged overpricing of the US$329 million NBN contract awarded to China's ZTE Corp.
Acting on Pimentel's motion, the blue ribbon, trade, and defense committees approved the issuance of a subpoena to Yu Yong, ZTE president, as well as Fan Yang, commercial attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, to compel them to attend of the next hearing on the NBN-ZTE issue.
The lawmaker said aside from the alleged overpricing, Yu Yong will be asked by the senators about the alleged role of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. in the telecommunications deal.
Businessman Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, son of ousted House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., claimed that Abalos acted as broker of the deal and tried to bribe him and former National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general Romulo Neri to facilitate the approval of the ZTE project.
The bribe attempts were confirmed by Neri's consultant, Rodolfo Lozada Jr., the key witness in the Senate hearing on NBN deal.
"I think it is not good for our people to see that we are only running after the crooks in our government, and not after those foreigners who are corrupting them," Pimentel said.
"In other words, the ZTE will be given all the chances to show that the contract is above-board. But let us not give them the pleasure of ignoring our invitation on the pretext that they have no address here," he added.
Let us proceed and issue a subpoena to Yu Yong, if he cannot be reached, then this committee should write the bourse in Hong Kong to de-list the ZTE from its list of shareholders through which ZTE stocks are being sold internationally, said Pimentel.
"We can invoke our rights with the Hong Kong authorities. We have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Hong Kong. We can invoke that and ask them to give us all the information about the ZTE president and so we can have jurisdiction over his person and compel him to testify," he stressed.
In the case of Fan Yang, Pimentel said the Chinese commercial attaché was mentioned by many witnesses as having been present during the series of meetings between ZTE officials and Abalos on the NBN-ZTE deal.
He said since Fan Yang is a diplomat, who enjoys certain immunities, she should be invited formally. "But if she ignores the invitation, she should be declared persona non grata," the senator added.
In asking that Yu Yong and Fan Yang present their side of the NBN-ZTE mess, Pimentel said it is important to show to the Filipino people that "we do not only run after local crooks but also a foreigners who try to corrupt our people."
Otherwise, Pimentel said the Transparency International will continue to portray Philippine officials are corrupt without saying foreigners are corrupting them. (CPB/Sunnex)
