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By Maricel V. Cruz Reporter
The controversial broadband deal
is shaping up to be a battle between political giants—an
irrepressible Speaker on one side and officials of the
administration on the other.
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said
his son should testify if summoned to an investigation into the
deal, clarifying his son has no interest in moves to impeach Comelec
Chairman Benjamin Abalos.
Jose “Joey” de Venecia 3rd is
the co-founder and a major stakeholder in Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI),
a Filipino firm. AHI, along with US-based Arescom Inc., competed for
the National Broadband Network deal that was eventually given to the
ZTE Corp. of China.
Abalos was linked to the
controversial deal, when it was reported that he traveled to China
at ZTE’s expense and played golf with its executives. Abalos
admitted to knowing the Chinese officials but insists he did nothing
wrong.
In a radio interview on DZMM, the
Speaker said his son “has to comply with the law,” when asked if
Joey would be willing to appear before an investigation.
De Venecia added that he gave his
son an advice to that effect.
He brushed aside insinuations
that Joey somehow had a hand in the contract awarded to his
competitor and that the younger de Venecia has a political agenda.
“He is a very responsible
businessman,” de Venecia said about his son. “He will not commit
anything illegal.”
De Venecia said his son and his
business associates are not interested in impeachment. “They are
not interested in persecuting anybody or hurting anybody,” he
said, adding that they are only interested in business.
Media ‘overkill’
“On my personal opinion, this
broadband issue is an overkill, and I pity Chairman Abalos” for
all the criticisms against him, de Venecia said.
Nevertheless, he said, Abalos
should answer all the charges against him at a proper forum.
De Venecia underscored the need
for the Supreme Court to decide on the controversial contract as
demanded by former congressman and now Iloilo Vice-Gov. Rolex
Suplico.
Graft charges were also filed
with the Office of the Ombudsman against officials of the Department
of Communications and Telecommunications, the office that signed the
deal on April 21 in China. President Arroyo witnessed the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Abalos is unfazed by
the threat of impeachment, saying “it would give the opportunity
to prove my innocence.”
“What bothers me is the effect
of this malicious imputations on members of my family,” Abalos
added. “My conscience is clean, and I don’t have anything to
hide.”
He repeated that he doesn’t
have anything to do with the broadband deal. Referring to ZTE
executives, Abalos said, “They have never asked me to make
representations for them … we did not talk about it.”
The chairman did not deny his
association with ZTE officials and traveling to China, though.
“I have been to China before
but not this year,” Abalos said. “My passport will prove that I
did not go to China anywhere between January this year up to this
month.”
Palace front
Malacańang said it will ask
former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri to explain what
he knows on the broadband project, Executive Secretary Eduardo
Ermita said Thursday.
Neri, who is now interim chairman
of the Commission on Higher Education, neither confirmed nor denied
reports saying he was offered a P200-million bribe to support the
project.
Ermita earlier said the
government will not cancel its broadband deal with ZTE Corp. despite
allegations that some government officials received bribes.
He said President Arroyo is
leaving the matter up to the courts and that she is confident that
Cabinet members who have been dragged into the controversy could
defend themselves.
--With William Depasupil and PNA
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