The truth . . . in trickles
He kept mum as stories swirled about an official of the Commission on Elections who visited China about four times since last year at the expense of ZTE Corp., a company that was seeking a $330-million broadband deal with the Philippine government.Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos finally spoke up only when all the other poll commissioners had denied that they were the official alluded to. Even then Abalos gave details of his links with ZTE in trickles, initially denying that he was familiar with the controversial broadband deal. After he was linked to the project by Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla, Abalos finally admitted that ZTE executives in Manila were his golfing partners, and they had shouldered his expenses during his visits to China since last year. Abalos said ZTE executives helped his daughter source materials for her import business.
It is not clear if the daughter was present when Abalos introduced ZTE executives to Finance Secretary Margarito Teves. The finance chief distinctly remembers that the broadband deal was discussed.
What other admissions are in store from the Comelec chief as more people come out to jog his memory? Perhaps he could tell the nation if the project, signed by Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza with ZTE officials in the presence of President Arroyo in Boao, China last April, violated an election ban on such contracts. He would not know, Abalos claimed, because the project was never cleared with him in connection with the election ban.
Mendoza, one of the President’s most trusted lieutenants, now faces graft charges for the deal together with two other officials of his department as well as several ZTE executives. Abalos can be removed only through impeachment, but he is not immune from prosecution for graft. The project is double the price offered by ZTE’s closest competitor, and will be financed through a soft loan to be provided by China’s Export-Import Bank. At current exchange rates, that’s P15.4 billion that Filipino taxpayers must repay with interest for the next 25 years. The public deserves to know the full details of this deal, including who brokered it and why. So far the official response to demands for transparency is: Uncover the truth… if you can.
