Not-So-Secret China Meeting
Here we go again... opening up the ZTE-NBN aborted deal to the public to discredit the present administration, and now with focus on the alleged involvement of the First Couple. Time has come again when anti-administration personalities saw another opportunity to fabricate accounts, exploit them, and mislead the public through allegations. On May 14, 2008, an article regarding another witness' account on the aborted NBN deal was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer to bring out old allegations that wasn't really proven amidst the platoon of false witnesses that Senators have presented in their inquiries.
The write up was obviously intended to create another political turmoil. According to the column, Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico pronounced that the First Couple made an undisclosed trip to the main office of ZTE Corp. in Shenzhen, China, allegedly for a secret meeting with the latter's officials last Nov. 2, 2006. It was five months before the signing of the National Broadband Network (NBN) contract. Suplico said a certain witness divulged to him that the secret meeting was preceded by a golf game with the ZTE officials and had been apparently arranged by Benjamin Abalos, then chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Suplico said the witness was his friend who was with the group during the golf game and in a meeting at the ZTE headquarters. Such statement was blemished with loophole since if the meeting was so secret, then why was Suplico's friend (witness) were at the golf course and the meeting? Perhaps he should know that secret meetings by top brass are only held in close-doors venue. Beside, why would the First couple make themselves publicly visible in an open golf course before a secret meeting? Suplico's witness obviously did not use his common sense. The visit was evidently not intended to do business with the ZTE Corp but rather just a sideline visit. Now, Suplico said the trip to the ZTE headquarters was so secret that not even Chinese government officials knew about it. Was Suplico really that dumb? A diplomatic trip to China cannot be that discreet since the host countries always allot security details to visiting diplomats. It is no-brainier that these escorts from the (China) government know the First Couple's itineraries and every detail of it. As such, the Chinese government of course knows about the ZTE visit. Perhaps Suplico does not know a bit about security coordination or he is just being lame and desperate on how to pin down the First Couple.
Suplico stressed that the President accepting the invitation to go to the ZTE meeting was highly questionable because she is supposed to have no business meeting with suppliers. With extreme ignorance, Suplico never noticed that the President is making efforts to get in touch with investors during her extra time, not to mention to take advantage of the opportunity of her presence in the country. There was really nothing questionable about the President visiting foreign investors. It is the President's job to entice foreign investors since it helps a lot in the economic progress of our country, whereas ZTE was supposedly of big help to the development of our country. Suplico should have been tactful enough and think first before opening his lips and speak baseless accusations.
The witness, who asked not to be named, told that Ben Abaloswas also present at the golf game and at the meeting, along with the First Gentleman and several other persons. The witness however omitted the fact that Rep Jose De Venecia Jr (JDV) was also there during the event. There were so much speculations why the author of the initial report did not include the name of JDV in her column. Probably because she wants to protect her godfather (yes, JDV was the godfather of Juliet Labog-Javellana of Inquirer). Such fact was indicative that even the media is voluntary meddling and or being used in such baseless assumptions. Suplico's secret witness supported his allegations with pictures of the First Couple at the Shenzhen Golf Club, to include a second picture wherein the President is supposedly talking to someone. That "someone" was intentionally digitally removed from the picture. If they were to divulge things on public, then why on earth would they cover the face of that "someone?" The mere fact that somebody was taking pictures during the game proves that the First Couples' golf activities was open to the public and was no secret. Security personnel are not that stupid to allow people to snap pictures of the mentioned VIPs if it was a secret meeting. It was quite too obvious that such witness is just fabricating stories behind those pictures that anybody in the vicinity could have taken during the occasion. Anti-administration forces are also not far from being a part of this story-telling-a-lie (again) stratagem. In addition, the witness' account states that the First Couple and several other officials arrived at the Shenzhen Golf Club in the morning of Nov. 2, 2006, after her trip to several provinces in China. The First Couple had breakfast at the clubhouse with Abalos and ZTE officials before the golf game. After the game, the President's party proceeded to the ZTE building, which is about 10 minutes away from the golf course. He said that there was a reception party at the headquarters. ZTE officials took the President's party on a tour of the plant, and then to a conference room for lunch. There was obviously nothing wrong with his statements except that he was so ignorant about on where they were going, considering that he is supposedly part of the party. He didn't even think that a visit in a nearby company is a sideline to get in touch with prospective investors. It was clear that the Shenzhen visit was a side-trip to the President's official visit to Xiamen, Jin Jiang, Nanchang, Guilin and Nanning provinces in China on October 30-31, 2006, which coincided with the commemorative summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It was no secret at all, contradicting what this new witness is talking about. In addition, it was also indicated in reports that the President had an interview with reporters who covered her China trip, surmising that there was no secret at all about the ZTE visitation.
Some facts are obviously being twisted in recent reports. Some indicated that the ZTE denied the visit. The truth is; the ZTE company has never issued any statement regarding the incident. Anybody can make a call to the ZTE to make inquiries and check out for themselves if the company ever made some pronouncements. The First Gentleman allegedly denied his presence in Shenzhen. The fact is; he had not made any statement regarding the allegations yet. These facts relatively make some reporters guilty of fabricating stories.
Now these are facts: Juliet Labog-Javellana of Inquirer was urged by his godfather, JDV, to write fabricated stories about the First Family's visit in Shenzhen that was intended to bring the aborted ZTE-NBN deal to the public once again. Months earlier, JDV tried to peddle Labog's stories to ABS-CBN but was turned down since the broadcasting company was skeptical about the story. Of course, media practitioners would not be taking the risk of losing their credibility. However, when the Lopez Group of Companies tripped off at Meralco's anomalous power rates, ABS-CBN bought the story so as to divert the public's attention from the Meralco blunders to the ZTE-NBN aborted deal. The Lopezes are evidently using their companies to defend Meralco against public scrutiny.
And now, where would this recycled issue go through? The eventualities will be similar to what happened when Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada created a political turmoil where opportunists, power grabbers and anti-administration forces dipped into the controversy for media mileage and grandstanding. Lots of government time and resources will once again be wasted with no productive output. Suplico and his secret witness are expected to bring out fabricated accusations to discredit the present administration. They even have the strategy of posting intriguing pictures in the tri-media, including the internet, to incite the public. Meanwhile, spotlight-hungry Senators will be at it once again to get a piece of the cake. They are better off investigating Meralco's questionable power rate since resolving the irregularities and anti-consumer practices of the Lopez Group of Companies will help a lot in uplifting the lives of the Filipinos.