New ZTE deal could be in the pipelines, Lozada warns

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court may consider the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess dead, but the whistleblower in the mess warned Tuesday of a new deal in the works. Engineer Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr said the ZTE mess cannot be truly dead and will likely resurface in a new form, because the bribes for it had already changed hands. "Yun na nga, nagkapalitan na ng pera sa kamay (Exactly, money already changed hands, so another deal is likely in the works)," Lozada said in an interview on dzBB radio. For his part, Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the pronouncement that the contract was canceled does not necessarily mean it should be closed. "Ang issue of corruption di pa sarado yan (The issue of corruption is not closed)," Marquez said in a separate interview. On the other hand, Lozada pointed out that even if the high court declared the deal dead, no one has so far produced documents indicating the deal was actually canceled. "Dapat sila rin magbigay ng dokumento sa tao (The authorities concerned should produce documents to the public indicating the deal is indeed canceled)," he said. When asked about the possibility of a "replacement deal," he said it was highly likely, especially since whistleblowers like him were already out of the loop. "Pwede, pwede, pwede, papalitan lang, lalo kung di alam ng publiko (Yes, yes, yes, it will likely just be changed with a similar deal because the public does not know about it)," he said. On the other hand, Lozada said that even if the ZTE deal were really dead, the investigation into the mess must still go on because there was graft involved. The Supreme Court on Monday junked three petitions against the ZTE deal, saying it had already been canceled. "Kung gusto kang patayin pero di ka napatay dapat may kaso pa rin (If someone wanted to kill you but failed to do so, you don't just drop the case against your prospective killer)," Lozada said. Meanwhile, Lozada lamented the government may be succeeding in using propaganda to get Filipinos to forget about the entire mess. He said Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri, who clammed up on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's role in the mess, had been appointed to head the Social Security System. "Palayo na tayo nang palayo sa katotohanan ... Nalulungkot lang ako baka di na makarating sa bayan ang katotohanan sa likod ng transaction na ito (We are getting further from the truth... I am sad because the nation won't know the truth behind the transaction)," he said. "Sana sa Pilipino huwag ibaon sa limot yan (I just hope Filipinos will not forget about the entire thing)," he added. - GMANews.TV