EDITORIAL - Waiting for the truth

There were no surprises in the recent moves of the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the aborted national broadband deal between the government and ZTE Corp. First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was cleared of accusations that he played a role in the award of the $329-million deal to the Chinese company. Only former socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri, who was in fact a whistle-blower, and former chairman Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections now face charges before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the aborted deal.

Yesterday the Ombudsman also cleared President Arroyo and several former Malacañang and Cabinet officials of obstruction of justice in connection with attempts to stop whistle-blower Rodolfo Lozada Jr. from testifying before the Senate. A key player in the alleged obstruction, Manuel Gaite, deputy of then executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, was long ago rewarded with the post of commissioner in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lozada, who had suspected that he was a victim of a botched kidnapping attempt, can console himself with the thought that Cabinet members he had accused of involvement lost in the May 10 elections. He can also find comfort in the fact that the senator who supported him in his hour of need, Benigno Aquino III, will soon have the power to unearth the truth about the broadband deal.

China, through its ambassador, has promised cooperation in this effort. Neri, now head of the Social Security System, could be experiencing an epiphany and might yet bare to the public the information he had withheld from the Senate, protected by the shield of executive privilege. Otherwise he could end up behind bars while the ones who are suspected to have actually benefited from the deal will remain scot-free.

Within a month there will be a new chief executive, who is unlikely to invoke executive privilege as a shield for criminal activity. The whole truth about the ZTE deal might yet emerge.