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By Katrice R. Jalbuena, Reporter
A commercial attaché assigned in
China is facing malversation charges after losing the original
copies of a multimillion-dollar broadband contract signed by a
Chinese company and the Philippine government.
The National Bureau of
Investigation has recommended the charges filed with the Ombudsman
against Emmanuel Nino Wee Ang, 31, a commercial attaché and
director of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center assigned to
the Philippine consulate in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
The NBI said Ang is responsible
for the disappearance of the original copies of a memorandum of
agreement between the government, represented by the Department of
Transport and Communication, and the Chinese company ZTE Corp.
The contract was reportedly worth
$330 million.
Five copies of the agreement were
signed on April 21 by DOTC Secretary Leandro R. Mendoza and Yu Yong,
ZTE Corporation vice-president, at the VIP room of the International
Airport in Haikou, Hainan province. The ceremony was witnessed by
Ambassador Sonia Brady, DTI Secretary Peter Favila and other members
of the Philippine delegation.
After the delegation left the VIP
room, Ang, who organized of the ceremony, collected all the
documents and placed them in a cardboard envelope.
Ang and Allan Liu, a Chinese who
worked as a trade assistant and interpreter at the Philippine
consulate, then collected their luggage and rode a van to the
Meritus Mandarin Hotel where they checked in.
At around midnight, Ang woke up
to start packing his luggage for the flight home the next day. He
called Liu and requested for the MOA documents, but Lu said he could
not find them. They searched for the envelope with the help of hotel
housekeeping and security but could not find it. They also called
the driver of the van and returned to the airport VIP room to check.
They did not find the envelope there either.
The hotel’s video surveillance
revealed that the envelope was on the luggage cart that took the
baggage of Ang and Liu to their rooms. It also showed that no one
had entered the rooms.
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