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ZTE controversy: Lively, noisy democracy - US envoy


United States ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney on Monday described the renewed controversy stirred by the statements of ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr as a "lively, noisy democracy." During the opening rites of the Balikatan 2008 military exercises in Camp Aguinaldo, Kenney said the recent exchanges over the controversial $329.48-million ZTE national broadband network deal only shows the lack in "shortage of opinions and views" in the Philippines. She even likened the controversy to the US presidential campaign. "This is a very lively, noisy democracy, no shortage of opinions and views - something I'm pretty familiar with in the United States. If you're paying attention to our presidential campaign, there's a lot of views being expressed and a lot of noise and sound, that's part of democracy," Kenney said. Kenney said the exchanges over the controversial contract is "healthy" and shows the citizens' interest in government affairs, adding that the US government is hopeful that the current situation would continue to be peaceful, despite the political noise created by Lozada's statements. "You know as a friend of the Philippines, I think our hope would be that it continues to be a peaceful expression of views and certainly that the rule and law and the Constitution are the frameworks surrounding it all," Kenney said. "Right now, we're looking at people expressing views peacefully, enthusiastically. I think what we're seeing now is a lot of citizen interest in their government and on things that go on in the country, I think that's very healthy," she added. - GMANews.TV

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