MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang considers Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. as no different from the political opposition now that he has plans to testify before the Senate in its national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE Corp. probe.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the former House speaker was now “behaving and talking as other (members of the) political opposition are doing” and as such, the administration does not expect him to be any more credible.
The Senate has indicated that it wants to reopen the NBN-ZTE probe with De Venecia as key witness.
The former speaker has expressed his willingness to take part in the probe and has even vowed to reveal everything he knows about the deal.
“I believe a lot of people would understand that if ever former speaker Jose de Venecia has these kinds of plans, it is because he does not have a good relationship now with the administration,” Ermita said in Filipino.
De Venecia and President Arroyo had a falling out when the former speaker’s son and namesake implicated First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and other officials of the administration in alleged anomalies in the NBN-ZTE deal.
With De Venecia doing nothing to keep his son in check as expected by his allies in the administration, he was eventually ousted as House speaker.
De Venecia is also being courted by the Senate to speak on another controversial deal, the Northrail project, which is being financed by China.
Allegations of overpricing have hounded the project and some senators have expressed their intention of reopening its probe into the issue.
De Venecia has been a proponent of the project from the start and the Senate believes that his knowledge of the deal would provide them with valuable insights.
Ermita said that they would just wait for whatever action is taken by De Venecia and what he would say during the hearings if ever he decides to testify.
“What is important is what they would be saying. Is there any truth to it and what can we do to answer whatever it is he will be revealing,” he added.
However, Ermita said that he is still hoping that De Venecia would remain a responsible political leader and do the right thing.
Don’t testify, press charges
But De Venecia’s son, Joey, had other things in mind.
Speaking before local Rotarians in Nueva Ecija in behalf of his father, Joey said his father is better off filing the case before the Ombudsman instead of appearing in the Senate.
Joey’s statement came on the heels of Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano’s statement that the Senate Blue Ribbon committee could not yet wrap up their investigation into the controversial deal because they are still waiting for the “explosive testimony” of the former House leader.
Cayetano earlier said he is giving the former speaker until next month to appear in the Senate probe. If the former speaker fails to appear, the senator will set a final hearing after which he will submit a final report.
“I’ll set a final hearing with or without him. I think one month of waiting is reasonable enough. Sana lumabas na siya para matapos na ito (I hope he comes out so this would be put to a close),” he said. – With Manny Galvez, Artemio Dumlao