Law & Order: NBN/ZTE Senate Hearing

Aside from the snippets I hear while my parents are tuned into the news, I am blissfully unaware of what goes on in my own country. Yet for the past two days, I've found myself watching the Senate Hearing on the controversial National Broadband Network deal (NBN) with Chinese IT company, ZTE.

It's like watching a local version of Law & Order. I'm hooked.

The Philippine people need Jack McCoy. He is a HERO.

So here's what's happening as far as I can understand.

There is a project to create a National Broadband Network. This network would improve communication between government offices across the country and serve as a national information repository. That's good stuff right? With the NBN, you are less likely to spend 3 hours in waiting in a room full of other irate citizens. It also means that your records won't fall victim to the fire that burns down your barangay hall.

The NBN was supposed to be PRIVATIZED but instead, the contract has been awarded to Chinese IT firm, ZTE. Now this is where it STARTS getting sticky. If the NBN is set up by companies of the private sector, the tax-payers money will NOT have to be spent on the project. And if Globe, Smart and/or Sun participate in the project, the NBN could be built faster by piggy-backing on existing systems rather than creating a new one. So from what I can see, the NBN-ZTE deal saves neither money nor time.

In addition, the ZTE deal requires $330 million (take note of the dollar sign). That's roughly P12 billion pesos. (as stated by Sen. Enrile) Okay, okay. Those are pretty big numbers. But then, laying down a nation-wide network of cables and stations is expected to cost you a pretty hefty sum. A bit of an eye-brow raise here, but nothing too alarming. Let's move on to the next item.

The government budget for this project is only about P4 billion pesos. Yikes! Where do we get the cash? Fortunately...

... China has agreed to loan our government the money to pay ZTE. So China gives us money to pay a Chinese company to do work in our country... I'm not a business man. I have no business education. I do not know what goes on between the closed doors of the big business firms. I am unfamiliar with the rules of business ethics... What I DO know is that both ZTE and the China's Export-Import Bank are going to turn a profit for creating a system that could be done cheaper and faster by our own people. This isn't discrimination. This is common sense. We are a third-world country! Let's try to bring money IN than send it OUT!

Oh, here's a few more things to wrap your mind around.

• There was no bid on the project. Oh wait, there was... Or was there? Some people say there was none. Others say Amsterdam Holdings Inc., co-founded by Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, competed (and lost) in the bid. And still others say that the bid was rigged because...
  
• First Gentleman Mike Arroyo bribed JdV III with P10 million pesos to "Back Off" from the deal. At least, that's what THEY say. What's FG got to say for himself? Nothing yet. He's busy getting medical treatments. Abroad of course. It seems that some bodily functions of politicians automatically shut-down when they catch word of a scandal. And the cure for their ailments are never available here... Never.
• And about the bid of AHI; It would cost a fraction of ZTE's... at least, it seems that way. Jdv III and the Senate (I think it was Mar Roxas speaking at the time) spent a good couple of hours chucking figures at each other with the debate ending in a "we're running out of time, let's put this matter aside for now so the other Senators can take a crack at it". Yeeesh. Crime never sleeps. Justice, however, has to be summoned to court, given ten-minute breaks and quits when bed-time rolls around.
  
• Oh, here's another fabulous coincidence. The contract has been STOLEN! Yep, according to NBI probes, the original contract between ZTE and the Philippine Government was stolen soon after its signing on April 21. I'd think this would have ended the matter. No contract, no deal, no problem... but apparently, I am mistaken. Contracts are legally binding even if they have disappeared off the face of the earth... But wait! It seems that...
• Leandro Mendoza has reconstructed the contract. Forgive me for holding my applause. I don't know if the lawyers believe it, but I, as an observer, have about as much faith in a "reconstructed contract" as I do in "actual photos of the Loch Ness monster"

It's a big, fat mess that stinks to the high heavens and is piled right in our own back-yard. And knowing our people's love for drama, many Filipinos will be glue to their TV-sets for days to come. I know I will.