EDITORIAL - Not the final seal

Following the resignation of Benjamin Abalos as chairman of the Commission on Elections, President Arroyo has scrapped the government’s national broadband deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp. The President bared her decision to her Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao during their bilateral meeting in Shanghai the other day. Hu said the decision would not adversely affect bilateral ties, while trade officials expressed confidence that the move would not dampen Chinese investors’ interest in the Philippines.

Now Malacañang is urging the Senate to end its inquiry into a deal that was allegedly overpriced, tainted with corruption and cloaked in secrecy from its inception. The suggestion makes sense – if the public can trust concerned agencies to pick up where the Senate has left off and pursue graft charges against those who have been publicly accused of corruption. Serious accusations were hurled during sworn testimonies before the Senate by businessman Joey de Venecia III and acting Commission on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri. De Venecia, a son and namesake of the House Speaker, accused the President’s husband of intervening in the deal and Abalos of offering a $10-million bribe. Neri, for his part, effectively testified that the President ignored a report on an alleged bribe offer from the Comelec chairman and even gave the green light for what the chairman wanted.

The public has yet to see a copy of the document that was lost just minutes after it was signed last April in Boao, China by Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE representatives in the presence of President Arroyo. What had the administration committed to ZTE in behalf of the Philippines?

These matters may have to be settled in a venue other than the Senate. But even if the Senate tosses these tasks to other agencies, legislation is still needed to prevent a repeat of the ZTE scandal. Congress should tighten rules on government procurement of goods and services, and review government-to-government transactions, especially those involving loans that Philippine taxpayers will have to repay, so Congress can exercise sufficient oversight.

After Abalos’ resignation, the cancellation of the ZTE deal was just another step in rectifying an anomaly. It should not serve as the final seal in the code of omerta that has characterized the way the administration has handled this scandal.