Press Release
February 7, 2008

ROXAS TO PALACE: PRODUCE NEDA MINUTES ON NBN DEAL NOW
DOCUMENTS HOLD KEY TO THE TRUTH

Senator Mar Roxas challenged the administration to present to the Senate the minutes of the National Economic and Development Authority's (NEDA) meetings on the National Broadband Network, which would either verify or disprove witnesses' claims that the deal was anomalous and overpriced.

"If the Palace is saying technical consultant Jun Lozada and other witnesses are liars, why hide the documents beneath the cloak of executive privilege?" asked Roxas, co-chair of the Senate joint panel investigating the cancelled $329-million NBN deal. The senator said the abduction of Lozada has made it difficult for the public to believe the Palace's side.

"Ito ang pattern: hiningi ng Senado ang mga dokumento ng NEDA, ayaw nilang ibigay. Executive privilege daw. Inimbita ng Senado si Jun Lozada, dinukot naman nila. For his safety daw. Baluktot na pamamaraan pero ipinipilit na tama. Mamang Pulis, ano ba talaga ang totoo? Bakit ninyo kinuha si Jun at inilibot sa Laguna nang hindi alam ng kanyang pamilya? Sino nag-utos nito at bakit ninyo sinunod kahit alam ninyong kayo mismo ay lumalabag sa batas?" Roxas said.

The answers regarding the sudden shift in policy in relation to how the broadband project would be implemented may lie in the contents of the NEDA minutes and other ICC documents, Roxas stressed.

"The March 2007 NEDA minutes, wherein it was decided to change the NBN project from BOT [build-operate-transfer] to taxpayer-funded, would reveal the real nature of the deal. The longer the Palace holds on to these documents, the deeper it sinks into a crisis of credibility," he added.

Although the Senate joint committee had requested for the documents during hearings last September and October, the NEDA refused to submit these on the basis of "executive privilege." Senators Roxas and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III thus filed with the Supreme Court on October 26 a petition to clarify the bounds of executive privilege and whether it was applicable to the present situation.

"We in the Senate have been unable to proceed because of the absence of important documents, and the non-cooperation of officials implicated in the controversy," Roxas said, while expressing hope that Lozada, who is now under Senate custody, would fill in the gaps left by the incomplete testimony of former NEDA chief Romulo Neri and other witnesses.

The senator also underscored the need for more people in the know to come out and tell the truth about the ZTE transaction. "The more we stay silent, the bolder they become. We need to find out the truth about this overpriced Intercom facility otherwise the country will never be at peace," he said.

Roxas urged the Supreme Court to nullify the invocation of executive privilege by the Office of the Executive Secretary and NEDA so that the people would finally know the truth.

The Liberal Party President also said the circumstances behind Lozada's departure last week, and disappearance upon arrival the other day, had to be explained.

"State-sanctioned abductions mean that no one is safe. This abuse of authority must stop and those responsible for this overpriced deal and the abduction of Lozada must be exposed and be held legally accountable," Roxas said.

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