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31
Aug
STATEMENT FROM JOEY DE VENECIA III ON SENATOR GORDON’S BID TO CHARGE HIM
It is most unfortunate that Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman Dick Gordon said yesterday that I and my father should be charged with graft for our roles in the ZTE-NBN deal. It is both unreasonable and illogical.
I was not involved in any form of graft. Quite the contrary, I exposed what would have been the most corrupt government contract of all time, worth no less than P16 billion. This amount would have been added to our already staggering external debt, while producing little in return to the country in terms of benefits.
I am deeply disturbed by Dick Gordon’s call for me and my father to be charged since the Blue Ribbon committee will be resuming its hearings on the ZTE-NBN scandal this Tuesday. He appears to be pre-judging the case and coming out with conclusions totally different from the Ombudsman.
As a reminder to Dick Gordon, I was the original proponent of the setting up of a national broadband network for the government, which it so desperately needs. My proposal was in conjunction with the Build-Operate-Transfer Law as passed by Congress. My proposal should have been the standard by which any other proposal should have been compared.
Everything I did in relation to the NBN was legal, transparent and aboveboard.
For the record, I have been engaged in IT-based businesses even before my father became speaker. The only government contract I have had was for the Board of Investments, where my broadband network model paved the way for the development of the call center industry in the Philippines. And my father as speaker is part of the legislature, and is therefore not part of the decision-making process in any government agency, including the Department of Transportation and Communications, which approved the contract with ZTE.
Senator Gordon is correct when he says that the First Couple also should explain their roles in this scandal. The President should explain why she secretly flew to China – while her husband was in his sick bed – to witness the signing of the contract with ZTE. She should also explain why she initially denied playing golf with officials of this Chinese company, only to backtrack when photographic evidence was presented to the public by a national newspaper. Mrs. Arroyo should also explain why she has silenced Romulo Neri, whose testimony before the Blue Ribbon supported my claims of hundreds of millions of pesos being offered to various parties to assure that the contract with ZTE would push through.
It is Mr. and Mrs. Arroyo who have engaged in activities which were illegal, immoral and kept hidden from the public.
As the primary whistleblower of the Mother of All Scams, my role was to stop a corrupt deal and not make money out of it. I succeeded. This, despite disgraced former Comelec chief Ben Abalos offering me P500 million to keep silent.
I have been informed beforehand that a Malacanang-funded black operations group would seek to tarnish my reputation further despite the Ombudsman having cleared me and my father of any complicity in the ZTE-NBN scandal. I pray that Dick Gordon has not been tricked nor is he allowing himself to be used as a tool of this Palace cabal. I further pray that Dick Gordon is not using this issue to further his presidential ambitions.
27
Aug
STATEMENT FROM JOEY DE VENECIA III ON OMBUDSMAN REPORT FINDING ABALOS GUILTY
I am both happy and sad at the Office of the Ombudsman report finding former Commission on Elections chief Benjamin Abalos guilty of bribery and graft and corruption for his role in the ZTE-NBN case.
There is no question in my mind that Mr. Abalos is guilty. Unfortunately, the Ombudsman found nothing wrong in the role played by an even more powerful person – First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. No doubt, Mr. Arroyo shares in Mr. Abalos’s guilt.
The public is well aware of the close relationship between Mr. Arroyo and Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. It is he who pushed for her appointment, which his wife, the President, obliged. With Ms. Gutierrez presently facing impeachment proceedings, I am not alone in suspecting that she has been remiss in the performance of her duties, particularly whenever any member of the First Family is implicated in wrongdoing.
The Ombudsman decision all but makes Mr. Abalos a fall guy. While he is guilty and should be made to pay the price of his indiscretion, exempting Mike Arroyo should be considered a huge travesty of justice.
I ask that an Ombudsman who does not carry the political baggage and debt of gratitude of Ms. Gutierrez review the role played by Mr. Arroyo in the aborted ZTE-NBN deal.
I also ask the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which is set to continue its investigation of the ZTE-NBN deal, to invite Mike Arroyo to testify. He was previously exempted from attending the Blue Ribbon hearings due to his ill health, but he has since recovered as can be proven by his constant travels abroad with Mrs. Arroyo.
Only then will justice be served to the fullest.
20
Aug
Blue Ribbon’s ZTE report being doctored – Joey III
Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman Richard Gordon should release the final report on the ZTE-NBN now, businessman Joey de Venecia III said yesterday.
With election fever heating up, the ZTE-NBN whistleblower said he was worried that the report would be used as a political weapon and that the truth behind the scandal would never be known.
There is another reason why de Venecia said the report had to be released soonest.
“Senator Gordon has been sitting on it for too long,” he said, “This raises suspicions that the results of the original report that the committee formerly chaired by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano will be changed.”
De Venecia said “a reliable source” had informed him that “alterations” had been done to the Cayetano report which would implicate him, at the same time clearing First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chief Benjamin Abalos.
De Venecia had testified before the Blue Ribbon in 2007 that the national broadband network of which he was the proponent was awarded to the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE at the behest of the First Gentleman.
Earlier this year, however, the Senate underwent a reorganization with then Senate President Manny Villar stepping down in favor of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, an administration stalwart. As a result, chairmanships of various committees including the Blue Ribbon, changed hands in favor of the Arroyo administration.
“When Senator Gordon took over the Blue Ribbon, he declared that the final report was almost complete. What’s taking him so long to release it?” asked de Venecia.
One possible reason was that a “doctored” report would be used by the administration as a bombshell against the opposition, with whom de Venecia has been identified.
He said he was worried that the committee under Gordon would completely change the conclusions reached by Cayetano’s committee.
De Venecia testified that he was warned to “back off” from the NBN deal by the President’s husband, as well as former Comelec chairman Abalos.
Messrs. Arroyo and Abalos denied de Venecia’s allegations, with the First Gentleman adding that he was only reminding de Venecia that being the son of the Speaker he should avoid dealing with the government as a matter of delicadeza.
De Venecia countered, however, that he had been dealing with both the private and public sectors for many years in his capacity as a private businessman and investor, and that he had never been a government official, whether elected or appointed.
De Venecia’s testimony was supported by a top government official, National Economic and Development Authority head Romulo Neri, who admitted being offered a P200-million bribe to support the ZTE proposal, which he said he refused.
But Neri refused to testify further, citing executive privilege.
De Venecia, meanwhile, said he had been offered P500 million to step aside in favor of ZTE.
As a result of de Venecia’s revelations, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was forced to scrap the contract three weeks after the Senate testimony, while Abalos resigned from the Comelec.
“On several occasions in the past few months, Senator Gordon announced that he was ready to release the results of the committee report to the public. The ZTE-NBN deal has been called the mother of all scams. Senator Gordon owes it to the Filipino people to release the report now,” said de Venecia.
He added that the public would not be fooled by a final report that had obviously been twisted to clear the Arroyo administration of wrongdoing.
7
Aug
Cory, Ninoy left behind a legacy
The massive crowds that attended the funeral procession of the late President Cory Aquino should serve as a reminder that the legacy she and her husband Ninoy left behind will always be with us, businessman Joey de Venecia said yesterday.
Numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the people’s farewell to Cory Aquino this week “should serve as an eye opener for the Arroyo administration,” he said.
In death, the Aquino couple have lost none of their relevance, de Venecia added. The outpouring of support for the beloved former president also serves as a warning that the sanctity of the democracy which they fought so hard to regain and sustain remains absolute, according to de Venecia.
Despite the inclement weather, the people still showed their support for Cory Aquino by witnessing her final exit on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with a rain of confetti and yellow ribbons that adorned buildings, cars and private residences.
So many people have said that they felt a sense of déjà vu when they saw the huge crowds that gathered to say goodbye to Cory. It was 1983 and ’86 all over again when a cross section of Philippine society were united in demanding justice for the fallen Ninoy during the former and a fair election count in the latter historic year.
“The days following the loss of Cory showed us that we are still capable of uniting as a people,” said the ZTE-NBN whistleblower, “The spirit of Cory and Ninoy will watch over us, and they can become ghosts that can haunt an administration that does not deliver what is expected.”
In death, Cory and Ninoy reminded the Filipino people of a few things, said de Venecia. For one, the son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia said the people have every right to demand the highest moral and ethical standards of its elected leaders and have the right to evict from office anyone they believe has betrayed their trust and our expectations.
The vote of every Filipino voter is sacred and must be counted as one, he said. “Stealing an election is never, ever justified, even with the best of intentions on the part of those who would change the will of the electorate.”
De Venecia said the people “were reminded that eternal vigilance is the price that must be paid for our democracy.”
Everyone has a role to play. There is no room for fence sitters, he said.
The move in Congress to declare Cory a national hero was fitting for one of the country’s most respected leaders.
“It will be great if this were to happen, but even if it doesn’t, even if it gets mired in the legislature, there’s no need for concern,” said de Venecia, “As far as we Filipinos are concerned, Ninoy and Cory Aquino are already national heroes.”
The young de Venecia said the Aquino presidency had set the standards by which all other presidencies will be judged. Cory Aquino’s honesty and integrity were hallmarks that the people should set for candidates for the May 2010 elections.
1
Aug
Cory was RP’s gift to the world
Corazon C. Aquino will go down in history as one of the best presidents the Philippines ever had, businessman Joey de Venecia III said yesterday.
“She is more than just an icon of democracy as everyone calls her, she was the country’s gift to the world,” de Venecia said.
The widow of the late Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr. was the inspiration of the Edsa Revolution of 1986 which restored the country’s democratic processes. Also known as the People Power revolution, the event inspired the peoples of numerous countries to peacefully remove unpopular leaders in the decades that followed.
“President Aquino’s commitment to democracy was absolute,” de Venecia said, “Because of her, the Filipino people will never again allow anyone to deprive them of their freedoms, their rights, and their civil liberties.”
The ZTE-NBN whistleblower said his own willingness to fight against insurmountable odds would not have been possible without the previous battle that Cory Aquino fought and won in 1986.
“The ‘impossible dream’ that Cory dared dream, and Ninoy before her, taught us a lesson we must never forget,” according to de Venecia. “All of us must be willing to march into hell if need be for a heavenly cause,” he added, borrowing the words of a song that was a favorite of Cory and Ninoy Aquino.
The son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said the late president was a personal friend of their family. “My thoughts and prayers are with the Aquino family at this most difficult time.”
He called on the government to work with the Aquino family in insuring a fitting farewell for the former president. De Venecia said political rivalries must be set aside during the one week period of national mourning announced by Malacanang. He also asked the public to unite in giving everyone’s “Tita Cory” the proper exit that she so richly deserves.
“I guess we can all take comfort in the fact that she is now reunited with her beloved Ninoy,” de Venecia said.
