Ex-gov't men to Arroyo: Lift ZTE gag order, suspend execs

MANILA, Philippines - Former government executives on Tuesday called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to "follow through with actions" her anti-corruption statements, and recommended five concrete steps the President may take to show the government's commitment to the truth. In a statement, 61 former senior government officials - which included the group dubbed "Hyatt 10' - called on President Arroyo to: • Order former Socio-Economic Sec. Romulo Neri to resume his testimony before the Senate investigation without any restrictions or limitations; • Order the release and delivery to the Senate of all public records pertaining to the NBN-ZTE deal, starting with the minutes of the NEDA Board meetings on the project; • Suspend DOTC Sec. Leandro Mendoza and Asst. Sec. Lorenzo Formoso, the department being the lead for this project; • Suspend DENR Sec. Jose “Lito" Atienza, PNP chief Dir. Gen. Avelino Razon Jr, Deputy Exec. Sec Manuel Gaite, Deputy NAIA chief Angel Atutubo, Senior Supt. Paul Mascarinas and all those involved in the alleged attempt to prevent ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr from testifying; and • Order a halt on any further attempts by the DOJ, DENR, NBI and BIR to harass Lozada and those who are testifying in congressional investigations on corruption charges. "The President said recently:'Ang taumbayan galit sa katiwalian. Ganoon din ako, galit din ako sa katiwalian.' We affirm the first sentence. We ask that the second sentence be demonstrated in action," the group said. "Having belatedly cancelled the (ZTE) contract to show her supposed anger with reported corruption in this deal, the President must now follow through with actions to determine the actual anomalies and establish responsibility for these. Otherwise, canceling the contract could be interpreted as an effort to cover up corruption rather than to pin down and root it out," the group added. In the statement, the group said President Arroyo should institute these actions within a week, saying that the public - through the power of reason and communal action - can make institutions work against corruption. "The Filipino people can make democratic institutions work to fight corruption by even the most powerful people in our midst. We can do this based on the power of reason and the power of the people's communal action. We deserve a government that governs with truth," the group said. "The President must demonstrate her commitment to the truth through these actions within one week as more and more of our people make their judgment. She must do these or be condemned as complicit with, and in fact, as being at the center of, the lies surrounding the NBN-ZTE deal. The President must do these or the people will make their judgment and act on the basis of their conviction," the group added. - GMANews.TV