MANILA, 12 March 2008 — A new witness in the raging National Broadband Network (NBN) scandal has proved to be a dud.
Leo San Miguel, who had earlier been thought to be the “missing link” in the Senate’s investigation on the government’s botched $329-million telecom contract with China’s ZTE Corp., denied “direct knowledge” of the alleged kickbacks and advances people close to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were supposed to have received.
San Miguel said that he did serve as technical consultant of ZTE and that his participation in the deal was purely technical. He said he did not even coordinate with government agencies.
San Miguel said he was purely a technical person and had not been tasked with anything else.
Asked about his knowledge on advances and kickbacks, San Miguel said,
“I am not aware whatsoever ... I reiterate that to be proficient as engineer, I will not accept a job if it requires (things) not within my coverage (and) if I am not capable,” he replied, when asked during the hearing about allegations of advance kickbacks supposedly received by former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos.
Abalos resigned late last year after he was accused by businessman Joey de Venecia of engineering the overpriced ZTE deal, with more than $117 million said to have been allocated for kickbacks.
San Miguel’s testimony apparently disappointed Sen. Panfilo Lacson, one of the lead investigators, who earlier dubbed San Miguel as his “surprise witness.”
Lacson said he had met with San Miguel four times prior to his appearance before yesterday’s Senate hearing and had disclosed not just irregularities in general but “details of irregularities.”
Lacson said he was considering citing San Miguel for contempt for lying to the Senate.
San Miguel, who was tagged as part of the “Greedy Group” that had been linked to the NBN scam, said that while he has met with resigned poll chief Benjamin Abalos Jr. four to five times, they were casual meetings of “hellos and goodbyes.”
Three other witnesses who had testified at the same hearing earlier said San Miguel was not telling the truth.
Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., whose testimony had bolstered De Venecia’s allegations, said San Miguel had always been with Abalos in meetings on the NBN agreement and discussions between Abalos and San Miguel could hardly be described as a “casual hello, goodbye.”
Lozada countered that he himself was a technical guy and that they have never talked about technical matters “...but how to finance the project and how to get approval...The conversations were purely usapang bukol (kickbacks discussions) and facilitation with government. Everything else but technical (was discussed).”
Lozada served as technical consultant of then Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri when the contract was hatched.
Joey de Venecia III, son of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., yesterday said San Miguel was in Shenzhen in China when Abalos asked the ZTE officials for more advances.
San Miguel claimed that he and retired general Quirino Dela Torre, another alleged member of the “Greedy Group” were asked by de Venecia to leave — which de Venecia denied.
Dante Madriaga, who claimed to be a consultant for ZTE, had testified that most of his knowledge on the kickbacks came from San Miguel and ZTE disbursing officer Fan Yang. (With input from Inquirer News Service)
