‘AB–ZTE–FG’ alphabet ring tone hits YouTube

A, B, Z, T, E, F, G…The English alphabet has a new satirical version reminding Filipinos of a multi-million-dollar telecoms deal with a Chinese firm that was allegedly muddled by the wheelings and dealings of corrupt government officials. An 18-second video clip of the so-called “AB-ZTE-FG" alphabet was posted on popular video sharing site YouTube, featuring a rap version of the song. “ZTE" refers to Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp, the Chinese firm that bagged the Philippine government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) project for $329.4 million. The “FG" in the spoofed alphabet apparently refers to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband who was accused of influence peddling in connection with the bidding of the NBN project. On September 18, businessman Jose “Joey" de Venecia III accused Mrs Arroyo’s husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo, of telling him to “back off" from bidding in the NBN project. De Venecia III is co-owner of losing NBN bidder, Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. He is the son of Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. At the end of the “ZTE" alphabet is an angry voice shouting, “Back off!" The ZTE video, featured photo clips of Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos, the First Gentleman, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, and First Daughter Lourdes Evangeline “Luli" Arroyo. Abalos and Mendoza are also being accused of taking part in questionable transactions related to the NBN deal with ZTE Corp. De Venecia III earlier accused Abalos of brokering the deal in exchange for commissions. The Comelec chairman denied the allegation. Meanwhile, Mendoza signed the ZTE deal in China with ZTE Vice President Yu Yong last April 21, in ceremonies witnessed by President Arroyo. Watchdogs, such as the Freedom from Debt Coalition, claimed the deal violated Article XXII, section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code. The law prohibits government projects from entering into contracts for public works projects during the election period. Mendoza signed the deal 22 days before the May 14 midterm elections. With the proper software, the “ZTE" video can be downloaded and viewed in flash (flv) format, and converted to mp3 or wav format for transfer to cell phones as ring tones. The YouTube account where the clip was posted was under the name of “dadagdag." The time stamp indicated the clip was posted Saturday afternoon. A profile of “Dadagdag" showed he or she is 20 years old, and created the account Saturday. The video had the description, “bribery, kickbacks, greed... business... bribery, kickbacks, greed... business ... as usual in the philippines!" It was placed under the “News & Politics" category. The Philippines has the distinction of being the first country to use mobile phone ring tones as a form of political dissent. In 2005, the “Hello Garci" scandal spawned a series of ring tones for cellular phones. The scandal is about the wiretapped conversations of key political figures from the administration and opposition bloc during the 2004 election period. The “Garci" wiretap allegedly included conversations between President Arroyo and former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano about rigging the results of the presidential polls. Mrs Arroyo and Garcillano both denied having such conversation. - GMANews.TV