Lawmakers: Keep Chinese firm out of broadband project

Lawmakers on Friday told Malacañang to keep China's Zhong Xing Telecommunications (ZTE) Corp. out if the proposed plan to revive the National Broadband Network (NBN) will be approved. Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo earlier confirmed that the agency will submit a network project proposal to Malacañang and said NBN will have a new name -- the Government Broadband Network (GBN). Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos. Montejo also said the Aquino administration has expressed interest in connecting government offices through high-speed broadband Internet, which will help make the delivery of social services faster and more efficient. He said the study will be forwarded to Malacañang sometime next month. It is not immediately clear, however, if the project will be implemented under the Aquino administration but lawmakers already had their sentiments on the proposed P800-million project. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. told Sun.Star in a text message that “there should be renegotiation of terms” once the government enters into a contract to implement the project. Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya, secretary general of the Liberal Party, said that while he has not yet read the proposal of Montejo, “it goes without saying that we shouldn’t follow the track of NBN-ZTE.” “I think the project conceptually has its merits though costly…we should harness the power of technology in bringing services to people. Alalahanin lang natin palagi na ang tongpats at bukol ay hindi sang ayon sa tuwid na daan,” he said in a text message. Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares echoed the sentiment of Abaya, saying the GBN would benefit the government because it would ensure faster services. However, he added, President Benigno Aquino III must remember to prioritize the basic needs of the people. If the Aquino administration would enter into a contract with a China corporation, the Chinese government should first win the trust of the Filipino people, Colmenares said. “The Chinese government knew the corruption and irregularities in the NBN deal but allowed it…they have to win our trust first and both China and the Philippine government must hold accountable those responsible for it. China must also prosecute those Chinese officials in ZTE Corp. involved in corruption,” he added. During the time of former President Gloria Arroyo’s administration, the government signed the NBN deal with China’s ZTE Corporation. The $329-million deal was questioned for allegedly being overpriced to pay off bribes to government officials. After a series of Senate committee investigations and junked impeachment cases against Arroyo over the NBN-ZTE project, the deal was eventually scrapped. The former President is also facing criminal and graft charges before the Department of Justice in relation to the botched deal. Under Montejo’s proposal, a copy of which was furnished to Sun.Star, the GBN will use existing transmission facilities of telecommunications providers, particularly the fiber facility of the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) that owns a national fiber optic facility with 24 core fibers in its transmission lines. The GBN will also allow local telecommunications companies to provide their services to the government unlike NBN whose service provider will only be the Chinese ZTE Corp. In effect, the GBN will cost lower compared to the NBN-ZTE deal. Malacañang admitted that there have been talks about the project but clarified that no resolution has been arrived at. “Wala pang resolution or way forward. At this point, napag-usapan pa lang putting up a government broadband project considering the cut down of communication costs,” Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over government-run dzRB radio. The Palace, meanwhile, is silent on rumors that whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. will be hired as a consultant to the project. Lozada, who implicated former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. and former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo in the controversial deal, told Sun.Star that he has not yet seen the proposal prepared by DOST. “I haven’t seen the network proposal yet, so I will withhold any comments regarding its technical merit,” he said in a text message. Lozada was a consultant of former National Economic and Development Authority director general Romulo Neri when the deal was signed. Neri claimed in a Senate inquiry that Abalos offered him P200 million to approve the contract with ZTE. The DOST said the GBN is needed to “integrate and address the data processing, storage, computing and connectivity needs of government agencies.” At present, government agencies in the Philippines do not have a consolidated network that would have been brought about had the NBN-ZTE deal pushed through.