Commission-ers destabilizing RP

Advisers of President Arroyo are getting anxious that a group of people who lost their “commissions” from the government’s cancelled telecom project are fast becoming a destabilization factor,
although not yet a threat to national security.

A senior member of the national security Cabinet cluster of advisers, who requested anonymity, deplored the feud among “commissioners,” a pejorative term for people who got commissions from the alleged overpricing and kickbacks in the $329-million national broadband network (NBN) project awarded to the ZTE Corp. of China, for causing destabilization in the country.

But despite these “noisy commissioners,” the Arroyo administration official is confident that the country would remain stable even after the NBN scandal brought renewed ouster calls against President Arroyo.

“By their greed for commissions, they got nothing but shame. So what they are doing now is to sow trouble in our country,” the official said.

“Huwag na sana silang manggulo,” the security official appealed.

The official said the biggest “commissioner” of them all in the NBN scandal is the Senate’s whistleblower, Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

The high-ranking official noted with concern that Lozada has been going around campuses in Metro Manila and other parts of the country in what the national security group of advisers suspect could be part of new destabilization plots against the Arroyo administration.

In his sworn testimony before the Senate, Lozada said he tried to broker or reconcile the proposals of businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos for the broadband project.

De Venecia III’s company, Amsterdam Holdings Inc., lost the NBN project to ZTE that was being supported by Abalos.

Amid reports of alleged commissions and kickbacks, the President ordered the cancellation of the NBN deal last year.

“That’s why Sen. Miriam (Santiago) was right in saying this NBN-ZTE scandal is nothing but a quarrel among those who lost their commissions and kickbacks,” the official further said.

During the Senate public hearing on the broadband deal last year, Santiago castigated the parties involved for using the Senate to settle their feud over their “commissions.” At the receiving end of Santiago’s tongue-lashing were Joey de Venecia and Abalos.

At subsequent Senate hearings on the NBN controversy, new personalities emerged, like Lozada and Dante Madriaga who separately claimed direct knowledge of the alleged commissions and kickbacks and who received them.

Lozada testified that he purportedly warned Abalos that too big an overprice in the project would create a “bukol” (bulge) that would make the commissions too obvious.

As consultant of former National Economic and Development Authority director general Romulo Neri, Lozada admitted he would supposedly get his share of the “commission” from the alleged P200-million bribe offer of Abalos to Neri once he is able to settle a compromise deal with De Venecia.

Neri has invoked executive privilege in refusing to testify before the Senate hearings.

Madriaga, meantime, added Leo San Miguel, Ruben Reyes and retired police Gen. Quirino dela Torre among those who pocketed multi-million dollar commissions and kickbacks from the NBN deal.