Businessmen complain to China of ZTE scam

Filipino business leaders have taken the extraordinary step of telling China about their dismay with the graft-ridden ZTE deal. And with six major business groups complaining, Beijing is expected to heed the unease since it seeks brisker trade and investments between the two countries.

Writing to Chinese embassy chargé d’ affaires Deng Xijun on Sept. 21, the business leaders said they lack “reliable public information about this transaction . . . for the supply of a national broadband network.” The Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Bishop-Businessmen’s Conference, Foundation for Economic Freedom, and Action for Economic Reforms attributed this to the alleged loss of the contracts “right after they were signed on 21 April 2007 at Boao, Hainan.”

“Despite requests from members of Philippine civil society, including our organizations who invoke the constitutional right to transparency, the Philippine government has not released a copy of the reconstituted contract,” the leaders said.

Signing the letter were former finance secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr. as MBC chairman, former ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario as MAP president, Abelardo Cortez as Finex president, former senator Vicente Paterno as BBC co-chairman, former economic secretary Felipe Medalla as FEF chairman, and Filomeno Sta. Ana as AER coordinator.

They expressed elation that China “is taking steps to ensure the transparency of this transaction.” They noted the assurance of Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jien Chao that Beijing will take seriously allegations of corruption. Liu spoke at the sidelights of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney three weeks ago, on the eve of a Senate inquiry that elicited testimonies of bribery.

The businessmen attached to the letter their two position papers on the ZTE scam that also became newspaper ads. The first, on June 7, urged President Gloria Arroyo in vain to cancel the contract since the $330-million (P16-billion) price could be better used to build 36,000 classrooms, or 6,000 rural health clinics, or 120,000 artesian wells. The second, on Sept. 7, assailed a “culture of impunity” in which high officials believe they can get away with scandalous dealings.

The groups also yearned for closer ties between the Philippines and China in spite of the contentious telecoms supply deal that experts say is unnecessary yet overpriced.

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Before urging Romy Neri via columns to tell all he knows about the deal, I consulted respected elders in the media. I was agonizing between journalism and patriotism, and asked if higher interest like stopping crime against the country should make me reveal what a public official has told me, even if it endangers both our lives. I also recalled that Romy himself said I should make a sacrifice as a journalist whose dedication must be to truth. From it came out two columns on consecutive Mondays detailing some of the frightening items Romy has confided since April 20, when my first full-length article on ZTE came out in The STAR.

Colleagues with whom I’ve pounded beats in the ’80s and thus know me enough understood the dilemma. Ramon Tulfo of the Inquirer even encouraged me in his column yesterday. Coming from left field, however, is Belinda Cunanan, also of the Inquirer, who in her column also yesterday sounded like she was driving a wedge between Romy and me. She prefaced that Romy had refused to divulge some details during his Senate testimony. And with that, she claimed, “Bondoc angrily said that since Neri doesn’t want to do so, he would do that for him, never mind that doing so could stoke another controversy.”

Angry? When, where? Agonizing is a far cry from angry. Bel knows my phone number; she often calls me for details about my columns. I wonder why she didn’t do so now that she compares our journalism. I remember when months ago I happened to share with fellow columnists over dinner the frightening tidbits I was then unearthing about the ZTE deal. I happened to have mentioned some big names, and Bel snapped at me, saying if that were so I should dare my sources to bring up charges in court. That’s what’s happening now, Bel, so please don’t stand in the way.

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Will Malacañang never stop maligning the young investigator whom they sacked for initiating a probe of the ZTE scam?

The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission spread a story to all media Monday detailing alleged violations of confidentiality rules by Vida Bocar, whom they fired on June 18. The implication was that Bocar had committed a grave offense in writing me for documentary evidence on a government anomaly I had unearthed.

The smear campaign against Bocar is part of a continuing cover-up that includes an alleged theft of documents.

I had refuted on television the false claims of PAGC chief Constancia de Guzman that they conducted an investigation. I said no examination was made because they sacked the examiner. She then claimed that their investigations had to stop when the Ombudsman took over. I rebutted again that during the nine weeks between Bocar’s sacking in June and Rep. Carlos Padilla’s filing of an Ombudsman case on Aug. 29, no one else from the PAGC approached me for evidence. Whereupon de Guzman claimed that they didn’t have to talk to me since my sources gave them documents. Really? Who? Please tell me, instead of picking on Bocar.

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