Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Palace backs subjecting NBN witnesses to lie detector test (8:19 p.m.)
MANILA -- Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita favored the subjecting of witnesses in the Senate hearing on the cancelled national broadband network (NBN) project with ZTE Corp. to a lie detector test, but it should include all witnesses.
Ermita said they are even open to allowing all government officials to undergo a similar test, if it is really needed, although he acknowledged that such results are not admissible in court.
"Why not? After all, we are all looking after the truth," he said, adding that the tests should not be limited to Leo San Miguel, an electronics and communication engineer involved in the NBN-ZTE project, or just a selection of witness but should include everyone.
Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo agreed with some senators that some of the witnesses maybe lying but "under the law, the way to truth is not by lie detector, but by due process."
"All evidence must be brought to the Office of the Ombudsman for impartial scrutiny with no politicking or grandstanding, and with rules of evidence and cross-examination of witnesses by opposing counsel," he added.
Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II proposed the conduct of lie detector tests to determine who among their recent witnesses on the NBN-ZTE deal is lying.
Roxas made the proposal after San Miguel made a testimony in the Senate last Tuesday, which does not corroborate any of the previous testimonies of the other witnesses. (JMR/Sunnex)
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