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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Surprise witness denies 'knowledge' on kickbacks
MANILA -- The surprise witness of Senator Panfilo Lacson denied any personal knowledge on the reported kickbacks and advances in the anomalous US$329 million national broadband network (NBN) deal with China's ZTE Corp.
Leo San Miguel, an electronics and communications engineer, was expected to support the earlier testimonies of Dante Madriaga, a former ZTE consultant, on alleged kickbacks given to the First Couple and other government officials to ensure the approval of the NBN contract.
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But senators were the ones surprised on the testimony of San Miguel during Tuesday's Senate hearing on the NBN mess when he (San Miguel) denied personal knowledge on the payoffs.
"My responsibility in ZTE was purely limited on the technical aspect of the project. I don't have direct knowledge on the advances whatsoever. I'm not trying to be difficult. I have heard there are advances to the extent of radio and TV and newspapers," San Miguel said, as he was repeatedly pressed by Lacson to divulge his knowledge on the alleged cash advances.
"I'm a technical person. That's (cash advances and kickbacks) not my turf. Asked me about my turf, I can answer, but anything outside that, I don't know. I am not confirming nor agreeing to any of that," when urged to tell the truth as he was said to be under oath.
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Lacson admitted that he was surprised with San Miguel's statement. "I was surprised that he has a different tune. Well somebody might have interjected," he said, adding that San Miguel during their three meetings was in a different mood.
San Miguel said he met with Lacson several times since Monday. But he denied having told the senator about his knowledge on alleged kickbacks.
NBN witnesses Madriaga and Rodolfo Lozada Jr. believed that San Miguel was not telling the truth.
Lozada said San Miguel knows about the financing aspects of the controversial deal as he attended meetings with former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., businessman Ruben Reyes, and retired General Quirino dela Torre.
"Hindi lamang technical aspects or things like how to execute the project and design of the network yung pinag-usapan namin, but also government facilitations, loans and commissions," Lozada said over a TV interview Tuesday.
San Miguel, according to Lozada, still has a lot of things to explain. "He was there in the meetings when we discussed about facilitating the government, the possible collaboration of Joey de Venecia, and the technical matters...I know for a fact that he's not telling the truth," said Lozada.
Madriaga meanwhile described San Miguel as a good speaker. "San Miguel is a good speaker but during his testimony, he was stammering -- that happens to people who are lying," he said.
"We have been close for a long time but now he only knows me professionally. That's not him (San Miguel)," added Madriaga.
Malacañang on Tuesday said the Senate's surprise witness was not anymore a surprise.
"Every time they come up with a surprise witness, it is not anymore a surprise. Like for example itong sinasabi ninyo, na-mention ang pangalan niya e, so that's why I'm not at all surprised that he is a witness," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
Ermita and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye both said the name of San Miguel had already been mentioned before, which was expected to result in his eventual appearance in the Senate investigations.
According to Bunye, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Cabinet opted to do their work and engage in a Cabinet meeting while the hearings were on going Tuesday.
Ermita, for his part, advised the public to instead carefully scrutinize the testimonies when they decide whose testimonies to believe.
San Miguel told senators Tuesday that he was hired by ZTE as a technical consultant for the NBN project and his participation were all purely technical in nature.
However, his business with ZTE as a technical consultant was not covered by a contract, which came as a surprise to some senators.
He said Yu Yung, the ZTE's vice president for international affairs, hired him.
Based on his agreement with ZTE, he will get one half of the one percent gross amount of the project, which for the $329 million NBN-ZTE deal means he is to receive $1.5 million.
The surprise witness also told senators that so far ZTE has refunded him P3 to 4 million of the expenses he incurred for the project.
These refunds were paid in cash, according to San Miguel. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. (March 12, 2008 issue)
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