The Deal

~ Bingskee

Took some interesting notes from the papers (The Philippine Star) about the latest hullabaloo – The ZTE Broadband Deal:

The ZTE Deal (Broadband Setup)

Cost of the Project – 330 million dollars (16 billion pesos) which the Filipinos have to pay for 20 years.

The project is deemed useless by experts.

Did it go through the right procedures?

The deal at least breaks 8 laws:

1.  Build-Operate-Transfer Law

  • Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. filed a proposal last December 2006 to build a broadband system on it own but DOTC did not initiate a study and sat on its papers beyond the 60-day deadline.

  • Arescom Incorporated of California had filed an earlier offer a year before.

 2.  1995 Telecoms Development Act – ordered the government to move out of the telecom industry  and privatize its networks.

  • ZTE will return the government to the telecom business in unfair competition with private firms.

3.  Procurement Reform Act – requires all public contracts go through open bidding for the best price and quality.

  • Department of Justice declared the ZTE deal as a government-to-government deal that requires no bidding.

4.  Omnibus Election Code – bans government from awarding any supply or service contract during the election period in case a political party or candidate be unduly favored.

  • ZTE was signed April 21, 2007 during the congressional campaign.

5.  The Anti Graft and Corrupt Practice Act – forbids government officials from receiving gifts of value (more so, if the gift is from a person or a company trying to bag a government contract).

  • Comelec Chief Benjamin Abalos admitted traveling to Shenzhen four times last year.

6.  The constitutional rule of transparency in all public transactions.

  • DOTC officials have refused to  give out a copy of the contract, at first saying nothing, and then claiming supposed theft of ‘only two copies’, and finally alleging confidentiality of proprietary information.

7.  The Anti-Red Tape Act – requires government agencies to produce within 10 days documents needed by taxpayers.

  • For months, DOTC officials have not bothered to even reply to requests for copies of reconstituted contracts.

8.  The constitutional rule of prior Monetary Board consent to borrow for any government project.

  • Only now (by Mendoza’s own admission) are they working for Board approval of a loan they signed in August covering the contract signed in April.

Bondoc, Jarius.  She came and went like ‘a thief in the night’,  

The Philippine Star,  September 17, 2007, p.15 

Need I say more?

Published by Bingskee

"None of us is as smart as all of us," says Ken Blanchard. Like Mr. Blanchard, I believe that we cannot survive alone. We are social beings. In everything we do, we need others for help and to help. In this light, I am here to offer my service as a content writer, to play a part in growing your business. Let’s create a spark together! I am fondly called Bing (for short) by many. You can call me by this name, too. I am sure we’ll have a beautiful friendship while we make it easy for our audience to perceive and understand our business ideas.

14 thoughts on “The Deal”

  1. The younger De Venecia isn't squeaky clean either. He's using his father's name and position to corner a lucrative government contract which, by the way, is illegal. So what's he complaining about then?

    I don't know why these dumbasses have to bring in foreign companies to set up the broadband infrastructure when we already have several telecom corporations that can very well do the job.

    Greed has again reared it's ugly head…

    Like

    Reply

  3. i have always wondered the motive behind the younger de venecia's move. it is actually doubtful but am quite thankful it had accentuated the anomalous deal. it is gutsy for me – to go against these powerful hoodlums.

    why they bring in foreign companies for a broadband setup, single, when we dont need it? for the payoffs, of course, which is in million dollars.

    i am not surprised, too, slim, but angered. imagine, paying again these officials' debt? they represent the Philippines and the Filipino people (who, btw, will pay the debt) when entering these contracts and go unscathed if the project failed or stopped in the middle. ending is we have another set of utang on our shoulders. di ba nakakagigil yun? 😦

    Like

    Reply

  4. If Joey DV III was using his father's influence to get the deal and lost out to the First Gentlemen's more pugnacious and avaricious friends, would he risk his and his father's credibility with the expose ' if their hands were equally tainted? This is the 64 dollar question. I'm not defending JDV III although I have met him personally – a very likeable, down to earth guy he is.

    Like

    Reply

  5. that is one point to consider, bw. i think people doubt about him because of his father's connection with the arroyos. you know how the people are manipulated over and over again by the sarseluas in the government. on the other hand, and as i have said, it is a bold move.

    Like

    Reply

  8. Tuloy pa rin ang pang-iinsulto ng mga politiko at mga ka-kutsaba ng may mga kapangyarihan ng bayan sa mentalidad ng mga mamamayang Pilipino. Tuloy pa rin ang pan-loloko nila sa mamamayan. Kapitalismong pang-sarili ang pinagtutu-unan nila ng panahon sa Kamara at pinatutunayan ito ng napaka-liit na panahon na ini-ukol nila sa mga batas at masugid na paglikas sa mga paraan sa ika-bubuti ng ekonomiya at pag-lingkod sa mamamayan. Patuloy nating bantayan ang kaban ng bayan at tugisin ang mga na-ngungupit sa pinaghirapan ng taong bayan.

    Like

    Reply

  9. tuloy pa talaga, noypetes. paano kaya dinadala ng kani-kanilang mga konsensya ang mga masasamang gawaing tulad nito? tuloy pa ring nawawala ang aking kumpiyansa sa taong inihalal ko… at nakokonsensya ako dito.

    Like

    Reply

  11. Ganoon pala? So why did Arroyo just “suspend” the ZTE deal? How really really nauseating this is. Just shows all and sundry how greedy our government officials are.

    Pero Bing, tutukan mo rin yung isa pang multibillion scam sa DECS. Smells like ZTE din daw kaya lang mas malaking pera ang involved PLUS the future of Philippine education. Dito, mas galit ako!

    Like

    Reply

  12. hi, babypink! only in da pilipins? ha ha

    she said because of 'political noise'. not the true reason at all i think. another scam and about the education system. palala na yata, no, bugsy.

    Like

    Reply

  14. it's sickening, haze. cant help be affected. and now they're saying the cases filed against the deal are premature when the concern is the bribery not the preliminaries that they are telling about the contract.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment