Press Release
March 12, 2008

"SPLICED WITNESS" NOT "SURPRISE WITNESS" --- KIKO PANGILINAN

The new witness who surfaced before the Senate inquiry on the anomalous ZTE-NBN deal appears to be a "spliced witness" rather than "surprise witness," Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan today said.

"Mr. Leo San Miguel, the new witness, seems to have a selective memory. He insists that he is a technical person, but later on, when it was Speaker De Venecia that he wants to pin down, he remembers suddenly all the conversations. When it was convenient for Mr. San Miguel to share more information because it would lead to the conclusion that Speaker De Venecia was involved in the deal, then suddenly he remembers. When the question involved commissions and other personalities, like the First Gentleman, he does not remember anymore," Kiko explained.

Kiko also found some prima facie defects in San Miguel's claims, impairing the veracity of his declarations.

"The Supreme Court in a line of cases has ruled that the credibility of a witness can be gleaned from the totality of the testimony in that it must be consistent with human experience. I found it contrary to human experience that Mr. San Miguel was in at least 8 meetings with Chairman Abalos, here and abroad, staying in the same hotels and even travelling by plane together and all they said to one another in all these occasions was a casual "Hi-Hello" as he said under oath. This is completely unbelievable. It definitely is not consistent with human experience." Kiko ended.

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