Senate Testimony of Mr. Joey de Venecia September 18, 2007
Downloadable MP3
The son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Mr. Joey de Venecia and a principal in Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. has just implicated First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo as the "Mystery Man" involved in the highly controversial ZTE National Broadband Network project during a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee headed by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. In a signed affidavit and testimony under oath, Mr. Joey de Venecia also named Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos and Dept. of Transportation and Communications Secretary Lito Mendoza as principals in what he called an overpriced deal prejudicial to the interests of the government. On questioning and in interviews with the Media in the past few weeks, Mr. de Venecia asserted that a 100% overprice is contained in the US $330 million deal to connect government offices to an Internet backbone, representing alleged kickbacks to various government officials.
Mike Arroyo quietly left for Hong Kong yesterday, according to news reports.
Ricky Carandang has the inside scoop on this matter -- it's worth watching his blog for updates.
An interesting issue emerging as a result of the ZTE National Broadband Network controversy is the issue of OBSOLESCENCE. Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Alan Peter Cayetano pointed out that the government has a dismal record in managing high technology projects, and even Administation stalwart Sen. Joker Arroyo admitted a prejudice against the Comelec under Ben Abalos because of the earlier Automated Counting Machine scandal, under his watch in the last Senate.
Abalos is headed for impeachment, I reckon.
3 comments:
i hate to sound ignorant here but what is the implication of Joey's admission in a TV interview that he has no evidence to back up his accusations against Abalos, that it's just his word against the latter's?
And what power is Senate exercising by inviting Joey to the investigation?
Thank you.
The testimony of Joey de Venecia is "against self-interest" in the sense that he is admitting to certain acts that could expose him to criminal prosecution. For example, it is illegal for any person within 3rd degree of consanguinity of certain high govt officials, to bid on govt contracts.
Just like Chavit Singson, when he exposed Erap, Joey de Venecia was an insider on what could be a highly corrupt deal.
Also, a person's testimony, especially under oath, does count as "evidence". He is testifying to events at which he was actually present. Such evidence may not decide any case that arises, but it is not worthless.
Dean,
I don't remember the Senator who was asking JDV3 (Lacson?) at the time, but I remember Joey said he faxed the ZTE proposal to his team which at that moment was with a ZTE rep who was reconciling figures with their own proposal. He said the team's reply was that the offer was for a mere 30% national coverage and that they estimate ZTE's proposal to be about $130M only. He told Abalos about it after the latter's siesta. He also explained that it was 100% overpriced based on the ZTE proposal he saw at NEDA and DOTC which cost $262M.
The contract price has been padded further to $330M and soon, might go up to a Billion Dollars(!!!) if change orders require 100% network coverage, had this scam not been exposed.
Just straightening some figures, if you don't mind.
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