senate investigations and inquiries

[Stoner]

Senate session for discussing the technical stats and details of the NBN project...

...damn opposition senators. They're still trying to push the 'GMA is the main culprit' subject. Political crap again.

[Honda97]

i quite agree with neri although they still have to penalize the people behind the scam.

it appears that neri is trapped in a system. he is employed by the government and somewhat has to be a "team player" to survive. he knows that if you make the system airtight, people will think twice about trying to go for kickbacks. then he won't be forced to deal with shady deals...

just my thoughts...

[carscout]

I pitty Neri.. He is in a very precaurious situation right now. Whichever direction he chooses present a destructive power that may end his career eventually.

IMHO, Neri needs to choose from the two opposing sides, there is no middle ground..

[Honda97]

I pitty Neri.. He is in a very precaurious situation right now. Whichever direction he chooses present a destructive power that may end his career eventually.

IMHO, Neri needs to choose from the two opposing sides, there is no middle ground..

Good point if you're talking about keeping is dignity. It's a different story once death threats are involved.

[carscout]

Here's another insider story on Neri

I understand why Neri couldn’t talk
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Monday, October 1, 2007

I called Romy Neri right after testifying Sept. 18 in that first Senate hearing on the ZTE scam. It was our tenth talk about the issue since Apr. 20, when The STAR ran my first of a series of articles. I pried why he didn’t show up, if he was under any threat of harm, and when he’ll reveal all he knows. From his replies it was clear he was charily weighing the consequences. There’s a time and place for everything, he mused, then asked if what he has narrated to me thus far would “incite another EDSA.” I said I didn’t know, but that I do wish the Senate inquiry would spark a wave of reforms, starting with clean elections. He shared the dream, but doubted if it would come true soon. Our talk eventually led to sacrificing for the sake of the nation. He said Joey de Venecia was brave to implicate big names, adding that if push comes to shove the young whistleblower fortunately has a rich dad to fall back on. “I’m not affluent,” Romy stated the obvious. Neither am I, I reminded him. Whereupon, he shot back: “Oh, but you’re a journalist, you’re supposed to be dedicated to the truth.”
Yes, in this calling our first instinct is to truth and justice, at all costs. So with Romy’s words in mind I must disclose what he has told me. I know I might get him and myself into deep trouble with powerful persons. But that is journalism. Too, in my hierarchy of values, God is first, country next, family and friends third, and myself bottom. Patriotic duty calls.
Romy bared many frightening things when he called me morning of Apr. 20. I had written that the government was rushing to award the ZTE contract the next day in Boao, China, and that the NEDA, which he headed then, had approved the overpriced telecoms supply in a huff. Before I could ask anything, Romy blurted three items in succession: “This deal was the handiwork of Ricky Razon and Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos … I warned President Arroyo about this, and also told Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. … Abalos tried to bribe me P200 million.”
I was stunned, and asked him to start over again by answering some basic questions. Like, how the NEDA got involved in this, and why a build-operate-transfer project suddenly became a negotiated supply purchase. He said “NEDA had to make an evaluation any which way.” Too, the law “allows the President to waive ODA (overseas development assistance) rules in a bilateral or government-to-government agreement.” He stressed that NEDA had no capacity to determine any overpricing, then explained the three steps in any NEDA project review.
Three times Romy repeated he had warned Arroyo about the deal. He told her about the bribe offer, and she allegedly replied “then don’t accept it, but work on the approvals just the same.” He said Arroyo kept blaming Joey for the mess that was then brewing.
The culprits in this deal, he said, are “ZTE Corp., Razon, Abalos — and one more….” When I asked why his NEDA approved the ZTE proposal when he knew all along it was stinky, he said, “GMA was pushing it, and it’s our job to process.” With pain in his voice, Romy said he had almost resigned the day before.
“My life is in your hands,” Romy cautioned towards the end. He said Abalos had wiretapped one of his staff, and Razon had once threatened him at a cocktail party hosted by the Speaker.
Before he hung up, Romy said that my exposé had the potential to mar the administration’s chances in the May election. It was so explosive, he counseled, so I must be very careful. He also said he would fire off a Letter to the Editor to clarify his role, in view of the sensitive info he had just shared.
I expect Romy to get mad at me initially. He already did because of my column last Monday, which his friends said put him in peril for hinting at what he might testify to. I apologized to him Tuesday, explaining that I intended his potential tormentors to realize, for his safety, that some other persons and I know what he knows. Too, that I wanted corroboration of Joey’s testimony.
I also expect Romy to understand in the end. He was feverish and coughing when he testified Wednesday. The media have since praised him for boldly divulging Abalos’s bribe attempt, but also pilloried him for hedging on matters involving higher officials. Some even mocked him for downplaying his role at NEDA as presidential co-chair of major projects, making it look like he wasn’t worth a P200-million payoff to begin with.
But then news reports have it that Romy was ready to bare all during the executive session at 9 p.m., just that he was having chills. I pray I can help him with this. Before the hearing I offered Romy a prayer for fortitude. He said he was more courageous than us. I don’t doubt it.

[Honda97]

i guess he just has to take a stand. hopefully, the people will protect him. he shouldn't hold back now that he has started talking. his statements just raise more questions. but, they have to give him security... for him and his family...

[explorer]

how can you be sure our senators are not corrupt? they have millions or billions?? in pork barrel which many of us do not know if they are spent on the right projects. likewise, afaik, funds of senators are not subject to audit.

are you sure of that? the only budget i know which is not subject to audit is the president's budget for intelligence...all other budgets including that of the president is subject to audit.

[jeffrocks]

Mga senador,imbestigahan nyo naman yung gusot sa basura dyan sa montalban/rodriguez,mahilig din naman kayo sa investigation/inquiries...
bumabaho na lugar ni binay

[A121]

this will never end. it's just better to move out from Ph..

[VtEC]

kakasawa na mga inquiries na yan.sa dinami dami ng mga inquiries nila ni isa yata ala pang magandang resulta.they are just wasting the taxpayers money for doing nothing.