Thursday, May 01, 2008 Senate: No proof linking Arroyo to NBN mess
MALACAÑANG said the Senate's report on the US$329-million national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE deal is a "vindication" for the Arroyo administration.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, said the Senate investigation on the NBN-ZTE deal had yielded evidence "leading up to the Office of the President" but no direct testimony linking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the anomalous project.
"It is a vindication definitely in the national leadership," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
Ermita said it was very clear from the start that there is no evidence linking the President to the NBN-ZTE scam. "That's why it should come out officially in the report," he said.
He said the people are already "very anxious" about the findings in the report.
He said the Palace is hoping that the Senate would be fair after listening to all the testimonies in its hearings.
Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said the Senate's NBN report should now shift attention to the Court of Appeals, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the justice department.
"Their non-partisan, due process hearings on NBN and related issues have strict rules of evidence, questioning of witnesses by expert lawyers, and sanctions on those proven guilty," he said. (JMR/Sunnex)
