Senate conducts last hearing on ZTE-NBN scandal

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee's last hearing on the botched $329.48-million national broadband network (NBN) project with China ’s ZTE Corp. started an hour later than the scheduled time due to lack of quorum. Invited guests Engr. Rodolfo Noel ‘ Jun’ Lozada Jr, businessman Jose ‘Joey’ De Venecia, former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno and Ramon Sales, former chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology were already inside the session hall but only the committee chairman, Senator Richard Gordon, was present. Members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) were also inside the hall. The hearing was scheduled to start 10 a.m. An hour later, Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, former Blue Ribbon committee chairman, and Loren Legarda arrived. At least two senators, including the committee chairman, are needed to have a quorum.

In his opening speech, Gordon said the committee invited all those involved in the project "without the pain of subpoena" because he wanted them to go on their own volition. Others invited to the hearing were Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Social Security System president Romulo Neri, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Manuel Huberto Gaite, Philippine National Railways chairman Michael Defensor and University of the Philippines Professor Felipe Medalla. "It is not for us to judge you but you will be judge ultimately by the people," the senator told those who failed to go to the hearing. He said he expected the committee to draft a whistleblower law and refine the procurement law after the hearing. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV