Senate hearing comes to an end
Committee co-chair Sen. Cayetano declares the hearing adjourned. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the ZTE-NBN deal comes to an end.
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Running Account
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More questions
The remaining senators continue to ask San Miguel questions, most of which have already been asked previously or are merely clarificatory inquiries.
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Hand raised, no opportunity to talk
After being badgered by senators, San Miguel makes a comment about the hearing. “The impression I am getting from this senate hearing,” he says, “Is that I am allowed to answer only ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I am not allowed to elaborate.” He says the other senators did not acknowledge him when he was raising his hand. Sen. Enrile, on the other hand, he says, allowed him to speak every time he raised his hand.
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Special treatment or selective memory?
Co-chair Cayetano asks San Miguel why all of a sudden he remembers details of meetings with Abalos, Reyes and de Venecia whereas before, he says he is not aware of anything except for the technical part of the NBN deal. “Why are you treating senators differently here?” asks Cayetano. Enrile reacts, asking San Miguel to say under oath that they have not met before this day. Cayetano sticks to his point, reiterating that San Miguel replied selectively.
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Enrile and Lacson's 'tapes'
Sen. Enrile asks Joey de Venecia III if he had any conversations with Jun Lozada about opening an ATM account for Amsterdam Holdings. De Venecia III replies in the negative. Enrile asks De Venecia III about many other conversations he had with government officials, and says he has “tapes” of the conversations which he wants to have played before the committee. Sen. Lacson says he also has a taped conversation and he also wants to play it before the committee.
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San Miguel points to de Venecia
Sen. Enrile asks San Miguel about meetings he had with Reyes, Abalos, Gen. dela Torre and former speaker Jose De Venecia. San Miguel says they met on several occasions -- at De Venecia’s residence and sometimes at the golf course -- to try to reconcile on the technical level the ZTE proposal and that of Amsterdam Holdings, represented by Joey de Venecia III, the son of the former speaker.
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Favila versus Gordon
Sen. Richard Gordon asks Sec. Favila why he signed the MOU between the Philippine government and ZTE without looking into the details of the agreement. Favila says the MOU is merely an expression of interest from one country to another. Gordon says he is disappointed with the way Favila merely signed something as significant as the NBN deal without due diligence. Favila defends himself anew. Gordon disagrees, they go back and forth. Gordon calls Favila defensive, Favila disagrees. Gordon says Favila was raising his voice and asks him to calm down. Favila says he was not raising his voice.
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Expansion of network coverage
Sen. Aquino asks San Miguel about the technical details of the NBN project. Aquino grills San Miguel on the expansion of the original network to cover more municipalities in the second configuration according to the requirements of the DOTC. He says he can have the mathematical figures ready and would be willing to create a Powerpoint presentation to explain the intricacies of the NBN expansion and why it reached a final price of $329 million.
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Other government projects
Sen. Aquino yields to Sen. Legarda. Legarda asks Favila about irregularities in other government projects like the NorthRail project. Favila says it would be better if the actual implementing agencies were the ones to answer the questions. Favila is one of the signatories of the contract.
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Lawsuits, damages
Sec. Favila asks to be excused due to another function, so co-chair Sen. Mar Roxas asks the committee to ask all their questions for Favila first. Sen. Biazon asks Favila if the country is “vulnerable to suits from ZTE.” Favila says he does not know the legality of such things. None of the other resource persons could provide an answer.
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