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February 11, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
Reference: Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817)
ACT Chairperson
Teachers renew Arroyo resign call, start fund drive for ZTE star witness
Militant teachers today renewed their call for the resignation of
President Gloria Arroyo in the wake of fresh revelations regarding the
involvement of ranking administration officials and the president’s
husband in the aborted national broadband network deal.
“The testimony of whistleblower Rodolfo Lozada, as well as Malacañang’s
criminal attempt to suppress it, reveals once again that the Arroyo
government is rotten to the core,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers
chairperson Antonio Tinio. “Mrs. Arroyo should resign now, because our
people want an end to the corruption scandals and cover-ups perpetrated by
this administration.”
Lozada’s testimony before the Senate corroborated the earlier revelations
made by Joey De Venecia regarding the involvement of First Gentleman Mike
Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos in
seeking a $130 million kickback on a contract for a national broadband
network with the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE.
“Like many ordinary citizens, we were outraged at this administration’s
brazen attempt to suppress the truth by abducting Jun Lozada from the
airport upon his arrival last Tuesday,” said Tinio. “Lozada’s testimony
revealed that Malacañang officials within Mrs. Arroyo’s personal circle
had a direct hand in abducting him and in attempting to cover up the truth
about the ZTE deal by making him sign an affidavit under duress.”
“We urge Mr. Lozada to file the appropriate criminal charges—such as
kidnapping, and wiretapping, against DENR Secretary Lito Atienza, CHED
chairman Romulo Neri, and others involved in the attempt to suppress his
testimony. We also call on the Senate to likewise file charges against
those Malacañang officials and operators for attempting to obstruct the
Senate investigation into the ZTE scam,” added Tinio.
ACT called on the Senate and the public to subject the $460 million Cyber
Education Project to close scrutiny following Lozada’s new revelations
regarding overpricing in the ZTE deal. “The Cyber Education Project will
be funded from the same loan package and subjected to the same
conditionalities—i.e., tied loan awarded to a preferred contractor with no
bidding. As we have seen in the ZTE contract, this set-up is prone to
overpricing by the predatory brokers and sponsors within the Arroyo cabal.
Cyber Ed is a perfect example of the ‘dysfunctional procurement sytem’ of
government, in which projects are ‘supplier-driven’ rather than determined
by the actual needs of the citizenry.”
The militant teachers lauded Lozada for testifying at the Senate hearing.
“We laud Mr. Lozada for revealing what he knows in spite of the intense
pressure exerted by the President’s minions and the grave threats to
himself and his family,” said Tinio.
ACT announced that it would launch a fund drive called “Piso para kay
Lozada, Piso para sa Katotohanan.” “We urge our fellow teachers as well as
all concerned citizens to contribute one peso as a token of support for
Jun Lozada’s courageous act. The money will go to a legal defense fund,
which he will need given that the administration and its allies are going
to retaliate by filing legal cases against him,” said Tinio. #
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February 12, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
Reference: Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817)
ACT Chairperson
Teachers picket CHED to call for Neri’s resignation
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today led a protest action at the
office of the Commission on Higher Education to demand the resignation of
its chairman Romulo Neri for his role in the anomalous national broadband
network deal.
“Given his decision to approve the sordid ZTE contract and his efforts to
suppress the testimony of Rodolfo Lozada, Chairman Romulo Neri has lost
all moral authority to lead the CHED,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers
chairperson Antonio Tinio. “Therefore he must resign.”
Tinio explained that as former Director-General of the National Economic
Development Authority, Neri approved the proposal for a national broadband
network project even though he knew that the project was tainted with
corruption.
Neri testified in the Senate last year that former Commission on Elections
chairman Benjamin Abalos offered him a PhP 200 million bribe to approve
the proposal in behalf of the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. He has
since refused to testify on President Gloria Arroyo’s possible involvement
in the deal, saying all communications he had with her regarding the deal
are covered by Executive Privilege.
Tinio added that the recent testimony of Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada at the
Senate is even more damning for Neri. Lozada was a consultant brought in
by Neri to evaluate the national broadband network proposal being brokered
by Abalos. “Lozada’s testimony reveals the extent of Neri’s participation
in Malacañang’s attempt to prevent the former from appearing before the
Senate. He is an accessory to the abduction of Lozada and the obstruction
of the Senate investigation,” said Tinio.
Lozada claims that he was abducted by armed men last Tuesday at the behest
of Malacañang officials to prevent him from testifying before the Senate.
“While, at one point, he could still pass himself off as a whistleblower
who exposed Abalos for attempted bribery, Neri has now cast his lot with
Pres. Arroyo and her cabal. We have no illusions, he won’t turn against
his patrons. Clearly, Neri has already gone over to the dark side,” said
Tinio.
“Moreover, his instruction to Lozada to ‘moderate their greed,’ will go
down in history as the motto of corrupted technocrats like him who choose
to subordinate professional ethics and duty to the country to the rapacity
of those in power. Is this the sort of person to lead CHED, which
supervises the education of our country’s professionals? We want him out,
and we demand that he be held accountable for his role in the ZTE
scandal,” said Tinio.
Teachers and employees from a number of state colleges and universities,
including the University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines, Philippine Normal University, and the Eulogio “Amang”
Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, participated in the
demonstration. The CHED exercises direct supervision on state colleges and
universities. As CHED chairman, Neri sits on the Board of Regents of the
abovementioned institutions. #
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