Press Release
November 20, 2007

JT. CTEES PUBLICIZE ANNEXES OF ZTE
CONTRACT UPON MOTION OF ROXAS

NERI ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE WHY HE SHOULD'T BE CITED FOR CONTEMPT

Upon motion of Senator Mar Roxas the Joint Committees probing the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal rejected the request of ZTE Corp. and their lawyers to make the annexes of the broadband contract available for scrutiny only in executive session.

Roxas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce and co-chairman in the NBN probe, said the denial of the request of ACCRA lawyers, in behalf of their client ZTE Corp., effectively makes the annexes "A" and "B" part of the public domain.

"The Senate has exhibited sufficient reasonableness and patience. This has been an issue for several months now, particularly on this information," Roxas said when he made the motion, which was carried by the Joint Committees.

"The committee members who have access to this information are now free to reveal this to such technical people as each member might want to consult so that they could make an informed decision," he added.

Annexes "A" and "B" of the aborted supply contract between the government through the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and ZTE Corp. pertain to the Priced Bill of Quantities and Technical Specification, respectively. In their letter to the committees, ACCRA lawyers argued that these annexes contain proprietary and confidential information, including trade secrets of their client.

Roxas said the original copies of the supply contract and the annexes are inside a safe that could only be opened by ACCRA lawyers as only they know the combination of the safe's lock.

Thus, he made a motion that the Joint Committees order the Senate Seargent-At-Arms to ensure that the safe does not leave the Senate premises and that the safe be opened, whether by the ACCRA lawyers or "forcibly, if necessary." The said motion was carried by the Joint Committees.

The Joint Committees also issued a show-cause order to former Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Romulo Neri as to why he should not be cited for contempt for his non-appearance in today's hearing despite receiving a subpoena ad testificandum. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita sent a letter to the Joint Committees requesting that Neri's testimony today be dispensed with, citing executive privilege.

"It's irrelevant as to who is cited for contempt. What is important is that this information is important to the proper conduct of our work. It is being prevented from being presented to us by the invocation of executive privilege," Roxas said.

Roxas also stressed that while they accept that there ought to be executive privilege, the scope of this privilege must be established and delineated vis-a-vis the public interest.

"Yes, we accept that there ought to be executive privilege, but where does the interest of the executive end, and where does the interest of the public begin?" Roxas said.

"This executive privilege appears to be some sort of disappearing cloak where information and data that is necessary to the proper contract of governmental affairs are withheld from the public as policy-makers who ought to be involved as part of decision-making," he stressed.

"As far as I'm concerned, the public already has made up their minds about this. What remains for us responsible policy-makers is to ensure that the appropriate laws are amended so that this will never happen again. And second, those responsible for possible malfeasance or misfeasance are brought to the proper venues," he added.

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