Press Release
October 3, 2007

Villar welcomes scrapping of ZTE-NBN deal

Senate President Manny Villar today welcomed the cancellation of the $329 million broadband deal with ZTE, saying the President heeded calls for her to walk the talk on government anti-corruption drive.

"I appreciate this move showing the international community that this government only has honest intention to curb corruption in the country. The termination of this transaction tells us that the President can also be sensitive to public opinion. Noong una pa man ay hiniling na natin na ma-kansela ang transaksyon na iyan. Mabuti naman at tuluyang na-kancel na ito," Villar said.

The Nacionalista Party president also thanked the Chinese government for their prudence and understanding and for agreeing that it will be best for the interests of both countries to rescind the contract, which is now tainted with perceptions of corruption.

"It is not good for Chinese loans to become synonymous to kickbacks. Our people benefited from centuries-old ties with China. The two governments have established strategic cooperation that not only serves the interests of the two countries, but also contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asian region," he said.

Villar added that by canceling the contract, the President rescued Filipinos from paying more than P16 billion for a project that would bring the country more harm than good for many years to come.

"I will still push for a closure on this controversy. We should allow the Senate investigation to continue and wait for the committee recommendations on the matter. The investigation should be concluded with legislation that will make transactions of this nature transparent and open for public scrutiny," he said.

Earlier, Villar urged the President to include in his two-day official visit to China an audience with Chinese officials and push for the cancellation of the NBN deal. The Senate president was also one of the first to call for the cancellation of the project.

Villar added that ahead of a Senate committee report on the ZTE-NBN deal, it can already be predicted that the senators found this project to be grossly disadvantageous to the Filipino people and would recommend for the cancellation of the deal.

"While the system linking government agencies electronically is a good undertaking, we must first assess our readiness for this technology so as to fully benefit from this project. Otherwise, this is big money going down the drain," Villar said. Earlier, economic experts from the University of the Philippines testified before the Senate inquiry on the broadband issue and declared that the project doesn't make "economic sense."

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