MANILA, Philippines -- Former poll chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., the man accused of masterminding the graft in the now-cancelled $329-M National Broadband Network deal, Monday dared his main accuser, ex-project consultant and Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., to a face-to-face debate.

Abalos’ lawyer, Salvador Panelo, Monday threw a debate challenge against Lozada to rebut point-by-point the latter’s allegations that Abalos demanded a $130-million commission from the controversial NBN deal between the Arroyo government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which allegedly led to its overpricing.

“I am daring Lozada and his battery of lawyers to face me and my client in a public debate regarding his baseless and malicious accusations against Abalos,” Panelo said in a statement via text message.

Panelo said the student councils and civil society organizations that hail Lozada as hero should also hear their side. He said these groups should hold a debate between Abalos and Lozada so that his client’s side is also heard.

He said those groups that invite Lozada to speak to students should rigorously examine the narrative of the Senate witness. Abalos had called Lozada’s allegations as “fabrications.”

“I also challenge various student governments and civic organizations to sponsor a venue to air their respective sides and subject both of them to the rigorous examination from the audience,” Panelo noted.

The challenge to debate Lozada came days after Panelo lamented the fact that schools and universities only invite the whistleblower to speak to students about the deal, which has sparked fresh calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Panelo, Lozada’s campus tour was a ploy to get the students’ sympathy to boost his story.

Lozada, the resigned president of the government-run Philippine Forest Corp. and a National Economic and Development Authority consultant on the NBN-ZTE project, said Abalos and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo had a hand in the deal.

Lozada testified that when he expressed opposition to Abalos’ commission, the former Commission on Elections chairman got angry at him and threatened to kill him should he find himself in Mandaluyong City and Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, where Abalos, a golf-enthusiast, is an officer, and Lozada also plays golf.

Abalos had said that he is planning to file libel and perjury charges against Lozada, businessman Jose "Joey" De Venecia III, and former Socioeconomic Planning director-general Romulo Neri. All three accused him of bribery and orchestrating the lucrative deal.