Palace welcomes JDV testimony on NBN-ZTE deal

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang welcomed yesterday the pronouncement of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. that he is willing to testify against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her Sandiganbayan trial.

The Ombudsman has filed graft charges against Arroyo in connection with the aborted $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. in 2007.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they had been appealing to those who have knowledge about the NBN-ZTE deal to come out and reveal whatever information would help in the prosecution of the case.

“That is what we’ve always been asking for. Even during the (Senate) hearings, that’s what we’ve always been saying. So we certainly welcome the decision of the former speaker to come out and testify on what he personally knows about the NBN-ZTE deal,” Lacierda said.

“Is there a conflict of interest with his son (Jose de Venecia III)? We don’t know. But since he professed that he wants to share, then let him do so,” he said.

It was De Venecia’s son who exposed the alleged overpricing of the deal to accommodate fat commissions for the brokers of the project after he lost in the bidding for the project.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, principal complainant in the case, said the testimony of De Venecia in the graft case against Arroyo could pin her down.

“I welcome the willingness of JDV (De Venecia) to testify against GMA (Arroyo),” he said. – Aurea Calica, Jess Diaz