MANILA, Philippines?Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has refused to be drawn into the Sandiganbayan?s investigation of the national broadband network deal against former Social Security System (SSS) administrator Romulo Neri, saying she would first await official summons from the anti-graft court.
As this developed, Arroyo?s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, kept distance anew from the botched deal with China?s ZTE Corp., maintaining he has no personal knowledge about it.
?We have yet to receive official communication to that effect, then we can issue (an) official reply,? Elena Bautista-Horn, Arroyo?s spokesperson said in a text message when asked for a reaction.
At Monday?s hearing, Assistant Special Prosecutor III John Turalba said the former president will be asked to appear in next hearing on October 13 to testify on the extent of Neri?s authority in approving the deal. Turalba added she cannot refuse to testify and must comply with the order of the court under the law.
Arroyo herself has been accused of pushing for the contract with the ZTE Corp. but charges against her were dropped because of her immunity from suits then.
Ruy Rondain, the private lawyer of Jose Miguel Arroyo, said he and his client have yet to receive official communication from the anti-graft court, but maintained that his client ?has no firsthand knowledge about the deal.?
?He has nothing to do with Neri?s authority. The prosecutors call witnesses who have personal knowledge and everyone knows that the former First Gentleman has never been in government so why is he being linked to the case,? he said in a phone interview.
Rondain said that if ever Jose Miguel Arroyo will appear, he would just say ?I don?t know? to questions, ?so it would just a waste of time.?
He added that the former first gentleman only came to know about the case during the hearing in the Senate.
Neri was the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) when the government signed the $329-million deal with ZTE Corp.
The project called for the installation of a telecommunications network linking government offices throughout the country.
The deal was sealed on April 21, 2007, with then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo witnessing the contract signing between then Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE vice president Yu Yong in China.
The deal was allegedly overpriced by about $130 million to cover kickbacks.
Neri headed Neda from 2006 to 2007 during which proposals for a national broadband network were submitted to the agency for approval. Neda is tasked with approving the feasibility of all multi-billion-peso flagship projects of the government.
Together with former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr., Neri is accused of involvement in the rigging and overpricing.
Jose de Venecia III, cofounder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc, which was bypassed in the project?s bidding, claimed that the then first gentleman intervened to get the deal approved, a charge the latter denied.
Neri testified at the Senate hearing that during a golf game then Comelec chief Abalos offered him P200 million in exchange for approving the contract. Neri said he told the chief executive about Abalos?s alleged bribe offer, and she told him not to accept it.
Two impeachment complaints were initiated against Arroyo because of the ZTE deal, but her allies in the House of Representatives thwarted them.
