What is Romy Neri really afraid of?

This is a presumption that former NEDA Chief and now CHED Chairman Romulo Neri — in his almost frantic ways of eluding the media and dodging the Senate arrest — is indeed in fear of something. And how else would you interpret the good Secretary’s actions? Someone described him as a mouse caught on fly paper. The mouse manages to escape and is now hiding in a hole refusing all possibilities of getting caught in a similarly sticky situation.

Neri’s recent ambush interview soundcuts make him even less endearing. He takes against everybody else his present predicament — openly lamenting his sorry situation and lambasting the media and the senators for treating him “like a fugitive” running from the law. Now he has gone the way of even filing a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court to prevent the Senate from issuing a warrant of arrest invoking “Executive Privilege” as defined by the SC in its decision on EO 464. He maneuvers that the SC goes against the Senate, Malacañang against the media all in the preservation of his name, position and whatever else he seems to be dead scared revealing. Hold on.

Firstly, his situation is his own doing. He had this “conversation” with President Arroyo about a scandalously overpriced transaction between China and the Philippines where, if we were to believe Joey de Venecia’s bombastic stories, the bulk of the US$ 330 million goes to the pockets of the those whose fingers, hands and even arms are in the pie. He keeps this conversation to himself and only God knows what his participation is in the project’s progress. He decides to attend the Senate hearing on the ZTE Deal where the public was expecting a roar of an exposé. He ends up letting out a faint squeak. He gives a bit but not enough to call a spade a spade. What was that? Is it now illogical that we all want him back to tell all? Secondly, the Executive Privilege portion of the SC decision on EO 464 specifies that information may be witheld by government if it were a matter of national security and a clear case of privileged information for the benefit of the Filipinos. This is its essence. But if the privileged information is about “sourcing funds for an anomalous project” and both parties knew exactly what they were talking about then Neri should know better where the line is drawn.

So what is Romulo Neri scared of exactly? There are stories going around. Neri is an esteemed member of the academe, a professor at the AIM, was appointed as Sec. General of the NEDA and now to the Chairmanship of the CHED and is one of those once largely accepted by judgmental civil society. Neri’s relative credibility is one of the few remaining crutches of the Arroyo administration in trying to project a sense of legitimacy. Those whose credibility were also needed and used were those of former DEPED Sec. Butch Abad and DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman. Both, along with the celebrated Hyatt 10, have long broken ties and alliance from President Arroyo. They have asked her to resign from her position for what they believe are various serious crimes as President against the people. We can only imagine how spoiled Neri must have been all this time with GMA. I can imagine GMA showering Neri with praises at the drop of the hat and avoiding offending Neri at all cost. The stories today have gone wild among the circles of the interested. To those who want to know to figure out what they could not “secrets can never stay hidden”. Neri’s personal life is now the apparent soft target. And now that it seems more and more evident that Neri knows something that may directly hit GMA, his secrets are thrown back in his face by both those who want him to talk and those who forbid him from talking.

Some may think this is all about teaching the Senate a lesson. Others may believe this is protecting a cabinet official’s or even the President’s right to classified information. It’s all very simple. People smell something very fishy and the public has the right to know. What did the President say to Neri about the ZTE Broadband deal? Did the President know about the overpricing when she was talking to Neri? Did she approve it even while knowing there were irregularities? Did she go as far as teaching Neri where and how to take the funds to support the 300 million US dollar project? Did the President and Neri know that early that this was a deal — if we were to believe the testimony of Joey de Venecia —— overpriced by more than double and that all of the padding would go to the pockets of friends, allies and possibly family?

Meantime we are all waiting on Jun Lozada, friend of Joey de Venecia, who, apparently, “knows all about what went on in the development” of this project. Lozada has beaten Neri in telling the public the truth. Neri’s name is done for. Neri looks like an accomplice. While Neri turns a blind eye and convinces himself whatever it is he is concealing from public knowledge is worth his peace of mind, his reputation, his family’s name and how he will be judged by history, we all wonder — until when and at the expence of what?