China offered to finance NBN if ZTE is awarded the project - DOTC exec

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said Tuesday that the Chinese government offered to finance the controversial $329.5-million national broadband network project with the condition that the ZTE Corp would be selected as the prime contractor for the project. GMA Flash Report said during the first day of the Justice Department's separate investigation into the ZTE deal, DoTC assistant secretary Lorenzo Formoso – the lone government official who appeared in the hearing – said the broadband network project initially covered only 30 percent of the country but was later extended to include all cities and towns in the Philippines from the first down to the sixth-class municipalities. In an interview at the sidelines of the hearing, Formoso maintained that the contract was not overpriced, as alleged by Jose “Joey" de Venecia III. “Imposible, because if you’re looking at it, you are looking at a humongous amounts. $130 million - the total contract price is $330 million, so pag tinanggal mo yung $130 million, $200 million na lang. That’s even cheaper than their original proposal which only covered 30 percent of the country," Formoso said. “So saan nila kukunin ngayon pang-abono? Lugi pa sila. If you think about it, it’s a business and they also have to make money, pay taxes, so lahat ng margins ubos na. How will they even finish the project?" he added. At the start of Tuesday's hearing, Justice undersecretary Ernesto Pineda, chairman of the agency's fact finding panel, also reiterated that their investigation will not overlap with similar probes being conducted by the Senate and the Ombudsman. The DOJ official said that their investigation is focused on determining whether perjury was committed in approving the government deal while that of the Senate is carried out in aid of legislation and the Ombudsman's investigation is centered on the Anti-Graft Law. As expected, former Socio-economic and Planning Sec. Romulo Neri, who was also summoned in the same hearing, failed to show up but was instead represented by his counsels. To recall, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo canceled the national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp. in September 2007 after her husband was accused of taking part in alleged backroom negotiations in the NBN-ZTE deal. - GMANews.TV