MANILA, Philippines -- Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico said on Monday he has lost contact with “Alex,” the new witness in the national broadband network (NBN) deal scandal.

As of Sunday night, Suplico said, he was unable to reach Alex on both his mobile phone and home number.

At a press conference called by the civil society group Black and White Movement, Suplico said he was currently trying to reestablish communication with Alex.

Earlier, Suplico said Alex was having second thoughts about appearing before the Senate investigation into the NBN deal because he feared for his life.

The witness was also considering moving to another neighborhood because unidentified men were staking out his family and neighborhood, Suplico claimed.

It was Suplico, a former opposition congressman, who revealed the existence of the new witness, who told about a supposedly secret meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and officials of China’s ZTE Corp. in Shenzhen, China in November 2006, before the firm won the bidding for the NBN project.

The deal was scrapped by Arroyo last year, soon after the Senate opened its inquiry into the alleged bribery and overpricing accompanying the contract, to which the President’s husband, Jose Miguel, and resigned Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., have been linked.

Malacañang has confirmed the meeting between Arroyo and the ZTE officials but denied there was anything irregular about it.

Suplico identified Alex as an “honorary government employee” who took the photos of Arroyo’s Shenzhen visit out of interest. “Ang tawag namin dyan nag-Kodak-an [We call that Kodak-an],” he said.

The Iloilo vice governor also revealed new pictures supposedly taken by Alex of the First Couple and supposed ZTE executives in Shenzhen.

One photo, which Suplico tagged “Romantic Rose and Yellow Shirt,” showed two alleged ZTE officials, a man and a woman, onboard a golf cart, numbered 25, behind the one the First Couple.

“The photos have taken a life of their own. And, if proven [to be authentic], it could show that the President lied to the Filipino people because she’s part of the conspiracy to make money from the ZTE,” Suplico said.

During the press conference, officials of the Black and White Movement received a forwarded text message from former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) head Solita Monsod containing the official statement of NEDA employees, calling themselves the ONE Executive Committee, on the controversies surrounding their agency.

Among the personalities dragged into the NBN controversy is another former NEDA head, now Commission for Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri, who told the Senate of an alleged bribe offer from Abalos but refused to say how Arroyo reacted when he told her about this.

“It is time for NEDA to confront the blows to its integrity and credibility. NEDA has been dragged through the filth of this controversy surrounding the NBN-ZTE scandal, and its reputation severely sullied,” the ONE Executive Committee said.

“For months now, with blind allegiance, we have been complying with the gag order and meekly bearing the pain of persecution and harassment from legislators, the media and the general public,” the group said.

“Once and for all, we, concerned NEDA personnel, have decided to initiate action, to speak up and to defend our honor. We want the public to know that we have faithfully and honestly performed our duties and responsibilities while adhering to the highest tenets of public ethics. We have nothing to hide! Our loyalty is to the institution and the principles it upholds, not to a specific personality,” the group added.

The group also called for the disclosure of all NEDA documents pertaining to the NBN deal; moral pressure on NEDA’s top officials; and action to make NEDA an independent economic planning agency.

The text message from Monsod said the NEDA employees are calling for the disclosure of all NEDA documents pertaining to the NBN deal; moral pressure on NEDA’s top officials; and action to make NEDA an independent economic planning agency.

Meanwhile, another key witness in the NBN controversy, Jose de Venecia III, said Arroyo should not have met with the ZTE executives.

“Walang delikadesa na pumunta si Pangulo sa ZTE. Dapat si [Trade Secretary] Peter Favila ang pumunta dun [It was improper for the President to go to ZTE. It should have been Peter Favila who want there] because it’s a trade deal,” De Venecia said.

De Venecia, son of the former House Speaker and losing bidder for the NBN project, was the original whistleblower on the allegedly anomalous deal.