http://www.philippinenews.com/article.php?id=1946

Now I understand the reality of the sequence of events… what used to be just dots and dotted lines in my mind, now becomes clear and concrete. Without Lozada who created the spark, all these corruptions could have just been swept underneath the rug and we poor Filipinos plainly submit to poverty with a sigh — IT’S GOD’S WILL.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was always considered a loyal ally of the United States until July of 2004 when she acceded to the Iraqi hostage-takers’ demands to withdraw the Philippine government’s 51 soldiers and police officers from Iraq a month early, in exchange for the release of Filipino hostage Angelo De La Cruz.

In becoming the 5th country to withdraw from the U.S.-led “Coalition of the Willing” (after Spain, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras) in 2004, GMA incurred the wrath of the U.S. government resulting in drastic reductions in U.S. military and economic aid and loan assistance from U.S. financial institutions.

Prior to that date, the Philippines, as a loyal U.S. ally, had rallied the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to deal as one bloc to push China out of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea where four Asean allies and China hold competing claims. But after the U.S. sought to punish the Philippines for “caving in” to the Iraqi terrorists, by imposing de facto sanctions on the Philippines and by refusing any face-to-face meetings of GMA with President George Bush, the Philippines changed course.

Barry Wain wrote in the Far Eastern Economic Review: “President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hurried trip to China in late 2004 produced a major surprise. Among the raft of agreements ceremoniously signed by the two countries was one providing for their national oil companies to conduct a joint seismic study in the contentious South China Sea, a prospect that caused consternation in parts of Southeast Asia… The Philippines also made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China.”

According to Jarius Bondoc, “There might be a hint of the real reason there. For, soon after R.P. capitulated, China offered to lend $2 billion a year till 2010 for government projects. China wasn’t doing it out of the goodness of its heart, though. It was bursting at the seams with $2 trillion in reserves, and was to collect 4-percent interest, hardly concessional in a period of much lower rates. China was only too willing to look like it was accommodating a new ally.”

These generous Chinese loans may have helped the Philippines reach an unprecedented 7.3 percent growth in 2007, the highest in 30 years. But they laid the ground for the present crisis, which may yet topple the Philippine government. In 2007 alone, the Philippines signed 33 new projects for financing by the China Export-Import Bank. In his Senate testimony in the last month, whistleblower Jun Lozada claimed that 20 percent was the minimum kickback that government officials received for the China projects.

One of the projects was the NBN-ZTE deal which the Philippine government signed in April of 2007 where ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant, was awarded a contract worth U.S.$ 329.5 million to set up a national broadband network (NBN) to improve government communications capabilities.

On August 29, 2007, Rep. Carlos Padilla, in a privileged speech in the Philippine House, charged that Philippine Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos was the broker of the ZTE deal. A week later, the Philippine Senate called for hearings on the ZTE-NBN deal. On September 10, 2007, Joey De Venecia, the son of then Speaker Joe De Venecia testified that he was with Abalos in China when he heard Abalos “demand money” from ZTE officials.

Although Joey De Venecia, as the son of Speaker Joe De Venecia, was prohibited by Philippine law from participating in and obtaining government contracts, he nonetheless, as president of Amsterdam Holdings, had submitted the losing bid for the NBN project. He told the Senate that the president’s husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, had counseled him to “back off” from pursuing the NBN project and offered to compensate him for it.

On September 22, 2007, GMA announced that she was suspending the ZTE-NBN contract. On September 26, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Chair Romulo Neri and Comelec Chair Abalos appeared at a Senate hearing where Neri claimed that in a golf game earlier in the year, Abalos reportedly offered him $4-M (P200-M) for signing off on the ZTE deal. Abalos denied the charge.

On October 1, Abalos resigned his post as Comelec chair. On October 2, GMA traveled to China to tell Chinese President Hu Jintao of her “difficult decision” to cancel the ZTE contract for the NBN project. On January 30, 2008, the Senate issued warrants of arrest for Neri and Neda consultant Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. Neri went into hiding to avoid being served with the warrant while Lozada flew to Hong Kong. For allowing his son to testify against the GMA and the FG, Speaker De Venecia was removed as House Speaker on February 5, 2008.

On February 5, 2008, when Lozada returned from Hong Kong, a Senate team was waiting to arrest him to take him to the Senate to testify about the ZTE-NBN deal. The day after his return, Lozada testified that Abalos and Mike Arroyo were behind the “kickbacks” in the deal charging that they stood to make about $200-M from the $329.5-M contract. He said he warned them that the overcharge was too high that it wouldn’t fly, but they ignored his warnings.

On February 26, 2008 ZTE Engineer Dante Madriaga testified that GMA received $30-M when she visited China in April of 2007 to sign the deal with ZTE. On Friday, February 29, approximately 80,000 people gathered at the Ninoy Aquino monument in Makati for an Inter-Faith Rally to call for the resignation of GMA.

That’s the A to Z of this saga, from Angelo De La Cruz to the ZTE telecom giant, all in less than four years.

romy v:
i still have to read on that oil and spratlys deal thinggy. but thanks for updating me.

thanks you everyone!

Nina, this tripartite agreement for oil exploration is way better than dealing with U.S. or Australia or Netherlands. Most likely, if there is any oil produced, each country’s share may be 1/3 net (gross minus cost of drilling).

The royalty we’re getting from Palawan oil is only 1 Peso per barrel — and that is ONE PESOS PER BARRELL.

noong unang panahon, ganito din ginawa ng tsina sa northwestern tip ng malaysia. nagkaroon sila ng technical cooperation agreement — hehehe… isang araw paggising nila, singapore ay naging bansa na pala at may constitution na. of course, it is constitutional dahil it did not diminish or threaten the singaporean sovereignty or jurisdiction.

ang tanong: NASAAN NA NGAYON SI BRAINDA MIRRIAM DEFENSOR? ang isang pinagaling na mambabatas sa history ng Pinas? isang bantog na constitutionalist!

Jo0186! parekoy! walang hero na buhay. tama ka si J.LO is very much not a hero.

jo0186:
so the end justifies the means?