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Tag: Romy Neri

We owe whistleblowers

Published by Ellen on July 16, 2013

Two news items yesterday recall to mind NBN/ZTE star whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada and his meeting with President Aquino in Malacanang last February.

Benhur Luy, exposed Janet Napoles vast network of corruption
Benhur Luy, exposed Janet Napoles vast network of corruption
The first news item was about the statement of the lawyer of Jane L. Napoles, who is in the center of the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam, to file administrative and criminal charges against whistleblower Benhur Luy, formerly Napoles personal assistant.

The other news item was the downgrading by the Court of Appeals into “simple misconduct” of the Ombudsman’s ruling finding him guilty of grave misconduct for his role in the aborted $329 million National Broadband Network deal with the Chinese telecommunication firm, ZTE.

Romy Neri, for hiding the truth from the public, just a 'simple miscounduct.'
Romy Neri, for hiding the truth from the public, just a ‘simple miscounduct.’

Why Jun Lozada?

The two news items illustrate the risks that a whistleblower has to face if he decides to take on bigtime operators who have built deep and wide network within the government.

In the NBN/ZTE controversy, second only to the Hello Garci scandal as far as negative impact on the Arroyo administration, both Neri and Lozada were privy to the behind the scenes machinations that tripled the cost of the telecommuncations project.

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Wilson Flores interviews Romy Neri

Published by Ellen on June 6, 2010

By Wilson Lee Flores
The Philippine Star

Neri bids goodbyeSSS president Romulo Neri recently made news headlines again along with former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, with both pinned twice by the Ombudsman for a graft case, while President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo were cleared by the same Ombudsman of alleged wrongdoing in the controversial and allegedly overpriced US$329.48 million National Broadband Network (NBN) project with ZTE.

As former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief, Neri was in 2007 invited by the Senate to testify on the alleged NBN anomalies where he revealed that ZTE broker Abalos had offered him a P200 million bribe at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club for him to approve the NBN project. Neri narrated that he informed GMA about this bribery attempt and that she instructed him not to accept the bribe. However, when the Senate probed further on whether GMA herself had followed up the project, directed him to prioritize or approve it, Neri refused to answer the Senate, invoking “executive privilege.” The Supreme Court in 2008 affirmed Neri’s right as a cabinet official to invoke “executive privilege.” Neri has since declined to discuss at length this controversy with the media, but this writer recently convinced him to grant The Philippine STAR an exclusive no-holds-barred interview. Here are excerpts:

Continue readingWilson Flores interviews Romy Neri