Senate to continue ZTE mess investigation ‘off-cam’ - solon

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, denied going easy on the investigation into the $329.4-million ZTE controversy even as he insisted that the probe will continue minus the live television broadcasts. Cayetano said the "off-camera" investigation will have technical working groups (TWGs) conducting background checks and gathering related documents. "Only part of the investigation is aired on live television. The bigger half is behind the scenes. The Blue Ribbon Committee staff will get documents and conduct interviews while the senators are away," Cayetano said in Filipino on dzBB radio Thursday. He said a Blue Ribbon technical working group will contact potential witnesses and verify information relayed to the Senate through e-mail, phone calls and text messages. Cayetano said the technical working groups will have 10 to 15 days to finish the groundwork, including obtaining and analyzing documents relative to the mess. "TWG members will talk to industry players and ask them about costings. In effect, they will hold their own mini-investigations. They will verify leads such as so-and-so meeting at this or that restaurant. They will talk to the waiters and managers to check the information," he said. He added that, "You can only ask the right questions if you have the right documentation ... That's the way real investigations are done. Not all investigation is done in front of the cameras," he added. The Senate has yet to schedule public hearings on the ZTE deal mess this month. A number of senators will fly off to Belgium to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting. "We are going full steam with this investigation. I ask from NGOs (nongovernment organizations) just a little benefit of the doubt," Cayetano said in Filipino. As this developed, Cayetano scored colleague Ana Maria Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal for accusing him of shutting up on the probe because of the influence of a "powerful businessman." He said Madrigal wanted to have the entire investigation in front of the television cameras, but admitted that she had no new witnesses to merit a public hearing in the next week. Former socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri, who claimed that former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos offered him a bribe for the passage of the ZTE contract, is still sick and could not attend any hearing this week, he added. "We don't have time for their kind of on-cam investigation and we don't have 12 hours to ask the same people the same questions. Besides, I consulted with them and they said they had no new witnesses to present," he said. Cayetano said some people are trying to drive a wedge between him and the bloc led by minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. The Pimentel-led bloc includes Madrigal and Sen. Panfilo Lacson. The "rift" started shortly before the 14th Congress opened, when Cayetano and fellow newcomer Francis Escudero supported the bid of Manuel Villar Jr. for the Senate presidency. For his part, Villar supported Cayetano's claim that someone has been trying to break up the alliances of some senators. "Someone is trying to discredit us. For my part, I haven't even talked to the businessman they are referring to," he said in Filipino. - GMANews.TV