ZTE hearing (Part 6): Lozada tried to reconcile proposal of Joey de Venecia, Abalos

ZTE deal Tutungo na po ako doon sa kinalaman ko sa ZTE deal. Teka lang po at marami po akong scribble scribble kasi. Medyo matagal na po iyon (Goes over his notes and prepares documents) (Sen. Loren Legarda asks if the Senate committee has already been furnished with the affidavits Lozada was talking about. Sen. Cayetano replies in the negative) (Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: Masyado lang po akong nababahala sa sinabi ninyo Engr. Lozada. Magkano ba talaga ibinigay sa inyo ni Mike Defensor? [crowd laughs]) Mr Senator hindi ko po binuksan, baka matukso pa 'ko (laughs). Hindi po, maliit na sobre lang. Pupunta na po ako doon sa....As I said kanina, ang sasabihin ko po ay 'yung aking personal na partisipasyon lang at 'yung ibang bagay na alam na naman ng publiko. At uulitin ko po, ikukuwento ko lang to without malice to no one. Tabloid facts Nag-umpisa po itong partisipasyon ko sa ZTE-NBN sometime late September 2006, nung ipinakilala po sa akin ni Sec. Neri si chairman Abalos sa Wack-Wack because chairman Abalos wanted to pursue a telecom project in government. And usually sa mga ganyang pag-uusap, the secretary would always invite me. Nang nandun po sa meeting namin usually with chairman Abalos si Ruben Reyes, si Leo San Miguel and 'yung mga taga-ZTE si Yong at tsaka si Fan Yang. 'Yun, very light lang, kwentu-kwentuhan. And then sabi ni Sec. Neri, O Jun ano ang tingin mo? Sabi ko, it's, it's a project. So sabi niya let chairman Abalos course it through the proper channels. And a few weeks after that, and the first proposal came from CICT to NEDA. The Sec gave me a draft of it, sabi niya Jun tingnan mo, pag-aralan mo kung ano 'yung mga nandito. I remembered reviewing the docus especially the financials, at sabi ko, the most salient point I can remember po after that, sanay naman po akong tumingin ng mga project body, is the financial basis for the entire financial projection, so many spreadsheets of the financial justification. But what struck me the most was that, 'yung basis nila of gov't telecom expenses dahil 'yun po ang ginamit nila na para maging basehan ng kanilang napakaraming projection, they took it from a tabloid. They took it from Abante Tonight na September 20 , 2006 issue. From that factor alone I said, how the heck can a multi-billion project of government be based upon figures coming from a tabloid? 'Yun 'yung sinabi ko kay and then ang sinabi ko, I don't know why, it might ...the form might be really really good kako but there's no substance there. While Sec Neri was in DBM I drafted a memo for him to all government agencies to submit all telecom expenses classified into fixed, mobile, and data. We never got it. So whoever 'ka ko has these figures, I will really, really like to find out where they got this. So 'yun ang recollection ko when I look at that paper. And I told Leo San Miguel, Leo ayusin n'yo to, kasi sasabog ito. Itong feasibility study n'yong 'to. And then sabi ko sa kanya, ang dami-dami dun tungkol sa education tanggalin n'yo na ang education portion na 'yan, dahil sabi sa akin ni Sec Neri 'yang cyber educ na 'yan, OK na 'yan. Meron nang hahawak diyan kaya dapat mahiwalay kayo d'yan. So 'yun po 'yung natatandaan ko dun. Good political sponsors After a few weeks, Sec Neri again invited me to a core presentation sa NEDA kasi daw 'yung anak ni Joe De Venecia will make a presentation, about broadband network din. So nandun ako, nagpunta rin ako, may broadband network project din si Joey mukhang maganda naman, maganda pong magsalita si Joey, tapos B-O-T [Build-Operate-Transfer]. So tinanong sa akin ni Sec Neri, ano appropriate ba 'yan? And that's the time na he told Joey, o sige i-pursue mo pa 'yang development ng project mo. And then nung tinanong ako ni Sec Neri - Jun, kamusta na ba 'yung mga project na 'to? How are they different? Sabi ko, they are only different in their financial transaction to government - one is BOT, one is on a loan basis. Sabi n'ya, can you reconcile? Sabi ko, I think so, 'ka ko. Sabi niya, alagaan mo 'yang dalawang 'yan kasi, they have both good political sponsors. So that's how he termed it. Reconciled proposal So I called up for a meeting and met with them and I proposed for a structure. Eto 'ka ko ang instruction sa akin ni Secretary Neri, to reconcile your proposal. Sabi ko why don't we work by objectives? Kung ang objective ni Joey is to do BOT, si Chairman Abalos is to do a supply agreement with gov't, sabi ko why don't we do it this way: eto si Joey 'ka ko let him have his BOT, anyway walan namang financial sa gobyerno. Tapos ikaw chair, dahil ano mo naman talaga, objective mo is to do a supply agreement, why don't you supply Joey? Ganon na lang 'yung agreement. They both liked it. So I made it a win-win situation, and after that I left them to their own discussions na. Kaya marami na ho silang pag-uusap nun. (end of Part 6) ZTE hearing (Part 1): I cannot tell a lie - Lozada ZTE hearing (Part 2): Palace exec told Lozada to go abroad ZTE hearing (Part 3): I was reminded of the Dacer case - Lozada ZTE hearing (Part 4): Calm your wife down - Neri to Lozada ZTE hearing (Part 5): Mike Defensor told me to deny abduction - Lozada ZTE hearing (Part 6): Lozada tried to reconcile proposal of Joey de Venecia, Abalos ZTE hearing (Part 7): Abalos called FG - Lozada ZTE hearing (Part 8): Abalos threatens to kill Lozada