Category: NBN/ZTE

From ABS-CBN Online:

Neri: I cannot recall describing GMA as “evil”.

Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada Jr. on Monday said his friend, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Romulo Neri, sees President Arroyo as an “evil person.”

“He called Presidente GMA (Gloria Arroyo). She is evil. Evil po,” Lozada said referring to Neri as describing Mrs. Arroyo during a dinner meeting with senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Ma. Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal.

Lozada made the new revelation as he faced for the third time senators at the hearing on the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal, which he recently said as overpriced by at least $130 million.

Update: Gaite said it’s his personal money that was given to Lozada.

Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada, star witness in the NBN/ZTE scandal, revealed in the televised special of ABS-CBN ,”Harapan” that Deputy Executive Secretary Manuel Gaite gave him P500,000 through his brother while he was in Hongkong.

He said one day,he went on a shopping spree, buying designer items, as an emotional therapy but it didn”t make him feel better.

He said he used his credit card for his Hongkong purchases. He also said he will return the money to Gaite when the Senate hearing resumes on Monday.

In his closing statement Lozada said, “hindi ako ang nagtatanggol sa katotohanan. Ang katotohanan ang nagtatanggol sa akin.”

Harapan in You tube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=harapan&search_type=

“Harapan” drew nearly 30,000 responses
abs-cbnNEWS.com

by Dennis Gadil

The chief of the Presidential Security Group yesterday said M/Sgt. Bong Fantillanan, one of four PSG men present at the Terminal 1 last Feb. 5 an hour before the arrival of ZTE star witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr., is in their roster.

But Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza said Fantillanan had the “mandate” to be at the Terminal 1 as the PSG contingent was anticipating the arrival of Jose Miguel Arroyo the following day.

He said the PSG men were not there for Lozada nor were they involved in the alleged attempt to prevent him from testifying in the Senate.

From Abs-Cbn online:

The Makati Business Club (MBC) reportedly received a threat from a member of President Arroyo’s Cabinet to stop speaking about the ZTE-national broadband network deal.

MBC Chairman Ramon del Rosario said the threat came in the form of a text message from a cabinet secretary to an MBC board member.

“One cabinet member sent a message through one of our trustees to tell us that if we want a fight….in Tagalog they said, ‘kung gusto ninyo ng laban, di laban’. We will unleash the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] against you,” said del Rosario.