Sen. Roxas stresses to Sec. Favila that the country would have gained more respect from China if it had admitted that the NBN deal was flawed. We would have then, according to Roxas, showed to China that the country is against corruption.
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Committee co-chairman Cayetano declares the hearing resumed. Trade Secretary Peter Favila takes the floor.
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Senate hearing suspended, scheduled to resume “sometime this afternoon,” says committee co-chairman Cayetano.
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Sen. Joker Arroyo, six-time chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, says there exists an internal committee rule which states that whenever possible, witnesses should be required to file at least three days before the hearing, a written statement of their proposed testimonies which shall be subscribed and sworn to by the council. “This has been a practice before and it has been carried out,” Sen. Arroyo says. “This ensures that the witness cannot change anymore his testimony.”
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Escudero asks Jun Lozada if he was ever in the technical discussions of the ZTE deal like what San Miguel claims to have been doing. Lozada says they were talking about money matters, commissions, kickbacks, “patong” and “bukol.” Escudero says: “So puwede ninyo pong masabi na puro kalaswaan ang pinag-uusapan nila sapagkat puro patungan at bukulan ang pinag-uusapan.” To which Lozada replies: "Siguro po talagang malaswa lang sila."
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Sen. Gregorio Honasan asks the committee chair if there are procedures they should follow on accepting witnesses, and if a technical definition of a “surprise witness” exists. Chairman Cayetano says the term “surprise witness” is merely a media tag, and that since San Miguel is a consultant for the supplies contract of ZTE, he is a “supplies witness.” Sen. Lacson says he never referred to San Miguel as a surprise witness in media interviews. Cayetano says “not any Tom, Dick and Harry” can testify, and that Sen. Lacson vouched for San Miguel as a witness.
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Sen. Escudero asks Sen. Lacson to confirm the statements made by San Miguel particularly on the times and places of their meeting, and if indeed he has not told the senator anything else other than what he has already testified to the committee. Lacson neither confirms nor denies. He says he wants to maintain whatever good will he has with San Miguel.
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Sen. Francis Escudero asks San Miguel how much ZTE stood to gain with the NBN deal. San Miguel replies that, based on industry standards, it could be anywhere from 12 to 20 percent of the total contract price, which in this case was $329 million. Escudero asks him what he and Sen. Lacson discussed prior to the hearing. He says “he never initiated contact with anybody.” San Miguel says his meeting with Lacson was accidental, them seeing each other at a hotel and recognizing each other after a previous project San Miguel had with the PNP. This started the series of meetings they had, he says.
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Sen. Rodolfo Biazon asks Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila to furnish the committee copies of the MOUs between the Philippines and China. Favila says the country’s trade with China amounts to $30 billion, as claimed by China. Sen. Roxas, who is also a former Trade Secretary, however says that the country’s data on trade with China amounts only to $8 billion. Biazon says there seems to be “an increased policy in the engagement in trade and projects with China.” Biazon says the increased activity “is surprising.”
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Madriaga reads to the committee a printout of the email allegedly sent to him by San Miguel. It reads, in part: "22, July -- I have attached a file to serve as a format, paki-check mo nga pare." Madriaga says they were comparing the two phases of the project, and that on the second page was a file attachment. The attachment, he says, details the amount of "tong-pats" margin, "tong-pats," appropriate contract price and ZTE price, among others. He explains that "tong-pats margin" is the percentage of how much they would pad the price, while "tong-pats" is the same as "bukol," slang for patong or commissions, or the breakdown of "patong" for the Greedy Group. Copies of the printout are distributed to the committee. San Miguel confirms that the email address on Madriaga's printout was indeed his.
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