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THE Cebu Archbishop, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, said Romulo Neri should
return to the Senate and testify once more in the national broadband
hearing for the sake of truth.
Chairman Neri of the Commission on Higher
Education last year testified at the Senate, disclosing an attempt
to bribe him with P200 million to approve the National Broadband
Network (NBN) project awarded to China’s ZTE Corp. Neri was then
director general of the National Economic and Development Authority.
Vidal said in an interview on Radio Veritas that
the Catholic hierarchy will not hesitate to make another appeal to
President Gloria Arroyo to allow Neri to testify again.
Senators want Neri back to answer questions
about what the President knew about the broadband project. In his
previous testimony, Neri said he reported the bribe offer to Mrs.
Arrroyo, but refused to give details saying conversations with the
President are covered by executive privilege.
Vidal’s statement came as Senate President
Manuel Villar Jr. expressed support on Monday to issue a preliminary
committee report on the investigation of the broadband project, as
was earlier proposed by Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan.
Villar said the interim report will summarize
what the blue-ribbon committee had found out, what it had done and
what remains to be done. He stressed, however, that releasing a
preliminary report is the discretion of the investigating panels,
and he will never order the chairmen to prepare one.
He stressed that his support for an interim
report does not mean he wants the broadband inquiry terminated.
Vidal said Neri must testify soon, as senators
debate on whether their inquiry should be terminated.
Even while appealing for Neri to testify, Vidal
bewailed how the Senate probe was being run, saying the people are
complaining that senators are “grandstanding” during the
investigations.
Ending the probe
Villar conceded that it “is very difficult to
terminate [the broadband probe] now because there are still many
witnesses and resource persons who have not appeared.”
“We are also still awaiting the Supreme Court
decision on the case filed by Secretary Romulo Neri,” he added.
Neri had questioned before the Supreme Court the
authority of the Senate to order his arrest or cite him in contempt
for refusing to answer questions about privileged communication with
President Arroyo.
“The appearance of Secretary Neri is the
minimum requirement for the termination of the NBN inquiry. New
witnesses with more information could still appear,” Villar said.
Ban on Mass
In a related development, the Archdiocese of
Nueva Caceres in the Bicol region on Monday issued a ban on holding
Masses for or with Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., a witness in the
ZTE hearings.
In a radio interview, Nueva Caceres Archbishop
Leonardo Legazpi said he cautioned his priests on holding a Mass for
Lozada.
“I told them I have no problems with rallies.
It’s the right of every Catholic to show the political decision he
chooses,” Legazpi said.
He said he warned priests in his area not to be
used in politics, or allow the Mass to be used for politics, saying
it is painful for the Mass to be used in this way.
-- Anthony A. Vargas and Efren L. Danao
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