READING BETWEEN THE LIES

Once again, the Macapagal Arroyo administration dances around new evidence pointing to lack of decorum and transparency regarding the ZTE-NBN Deal.

As photos of GMA and the First Gentleman playing golf in Shenzen, China, in November 2006 surfaced, together with claims by the whistle blower named “Alex” that GMA not only played golf but also met with erstwhile Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and ZTE officials, the Palace went into its usual denial mode. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye denied the story as reported in the Inquirer and ABS-CBN. Bunye said no such golf game ever happened because he had no knowledge of the event. That doesn’t mean it never happened.


A few hours later, the claim was buttressed by an unnamed ZTE official who told the Inquirer that no such meeting at ZTE headquarters ever happened at the time. But then, a new report now says that another Palace spokesperson, the seemingly in the dark Lorelei Fajardo, has admitted to the Inquirer that there was a “meeting but that it was ‘not a secret meeting’ and that there was ‘nothing irregular’ about it”. All this tiptoeing around the facts begs the question – will we ever get the truth from this government regarding the massive corruption alleged in the ZTE-NBN Deal scandal?

The Black & White Movement condemns Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s continued evasion regarding her alleged involvement in the ZTE-NBN Deal. Daring the new witness to go to court with his photos and story is an empty challenge – we all know GMA is immune from suit until after her term is over. We decry this act of impropriety – the president meeting with a ‘potential’ investor’ without formal pronouncement. This meeting, certainly not a run of the mill business conference, has stripped the presidency of any dignity and has reduced the position to a shady, deal making office.

We insist that GMA come clean about her asserted participation in the ZTE-NBN Deal. To wait until 2010 gives her the time to continue to obfuscate, evade the truth, avoid justice and make the Filipino people look like dim-witted fools.