Neri reiterates Abalos offered him '200' for broadband project

UPDATED 2:00 p.m. - Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri reiterated on Wednesday that he was offered "200" by former poll chairman Benjamin Abalos but he was not sure what the "200" was all about. Testifying before the fourth division of the Sandiganbayan, Neri said Abalos told him, "Sec, may 200 ka dito" during a round of golf in Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong in 2006. Neri testified at the Sandiganbayan because of a pending graft case against Abalos for his alleged unlawful intervention in the negotiations for the the broadband project. Invitation to play golf According to Neri, the offer came days after Abalos visited him at his NEDA office. It was the first time the two met. During the visit, Abalos reportedly invited the NEDA director general to a golf game. Neri said he was excited to be invited to a golf game and that the “discussion of the NBN project was far from my mind." During the game, Neri, admitting that he was a very poor golf player, said he was very appreciative of the golf tips Abalos was giving him. He said he was so engrossed in the game and more concerned on playing properly that when Abalos mentioned the “200" he did not bother to ask for elaboration. He also could not recall precisely in what context Abalos mentioned it. “I simply ignored the statement. He could have mentioned the (NBN project during the game). I could not recall how he mentioned it," Neri said. Asked by the justices what the "200" meant, Neri said he assumed it meant P200 million to bribe him in connection with the $329-million national broadband project. Associate Justice Gregory Ong, chairman of the 4th division, said it could mean 200 yards, 200 shares, 200 golf clubs, 200 golf balls, or 200 women. Asked again by the justices if Abalos clarified his statement and confirmed that the offer was a bribe, Neri replied in negative and said that was just his assumption. “It was my impression. It cannot be P200 because it was a big project. The project was P16 billion. I compared it (the amount offered to me) to the size of the project," Neri said. Lunch with Chinese leaders Neri recounted that after the golf game, the next instance he met Abalos was during a lunch meeting with Chinese embassy officials held at Makati Shangri-La. Officials of the China’s ZTE Corporation were also present during the meeting. Neri said he did not expect Abalos to be there because he thought the Chinese embassy only wanted to introduce him to investors from their country. Neri recalled that the NBN project was discussed during the lunch meeting. However, he said he was not able to communicate much with the ZTE officials much because they talked through an interpreter. Neri had earlier narrated this during his testimony at the Senate in 2007. Abalos denies making the offer In an interview after the hearing, Abalos denied making the “200" offer, adding that Neri’s claim was just an assumption. “Very clearly it was stated that it was merely his guess, it was merely his assumption. In short, I’m being charged now on a mere guess, on a mere assumption. Can you convict somebody on a mere guess, on a mere assumption?," he told reporters. Asked if he was confident he would be cleared from the charges, Abalos refused to answer and just said: “You be the judge." Neri, on the other hand, stood by his statement. “I said what I said and what I said was what I thought was true. I’m sticking to my Senate testimony which I also reiterated in this court," he said. P1,000 fine Reporters interviewed Neri as he was paying the P1,000 fine for failing to turn off his cellphone while the hearing was being conducted. Neri's phone rang during the hearing. Communication gadgets are supposed to be turned off while the hearing is on going. Discussion with Lozada During the hearing, Neri mentioned that he discussed the NBN project with Jun Lozada who was then pursuing a project on distance learning. Lozada later became a whistleblower on the NBN-ZTE project. Neri said he consulted Lozada because he thought he would be knowledgeable on the matter and because NEDA does not have "any money to hire consultants for specific projects and I don’t know what (NBN) is all about." On Wednesday, Joey de Venecia was seen before the hearing started but he left because he is a possible witness. Based on the rules of court, witnesses are not supposed to hear the testimony of another witness. The hearing will resume Thursday morning when the prosecutors expected to present the following witnesses: columnist Jarius Bondoc, lawyers Harry Roque and Oliver Lozano. National broadband controversy The Philippine National Broadband Network controversy (also known as the NBN/ZTE deal) involved allegations of corruption in the awarding of a US$329 million construction contract to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE for the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN). The contract with ZTE was signed on April 20, 2007 in Hainan, China. After accusations of irregularities surfaced, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cancelled the National Broadband Network (NBN) project in October 2007. On July 14, 2008, the Supreme Court dismissed all three petitions questioning the constitutionality of the national broadband deal, saying the petitions became moot when Arroyo cancelled the project. –VVP, GMANews.TV