The government saw an increasing utility for internet connectivity years ago, with an

initiative to install a national broadband network. However, a move that could have removed red
tape and lessened corruption ended up flagged down in a corruption scandal that brought down
with it a chairman of the COMELEC and involved a president and her husband, a scandal was fit
to side with its name.
April 21, 2007, the government signed the $329-million National Broadband Network deal
with ZTE Corp. of China The project, which was for the installation of a telecommunications
network linking government offices throughout the country, was signed in China by then
Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Vice President of ZTE, Yu Yong witnessed by
then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. ZTE initially offered $130 million for the project which
signaled the start of the NBN-ZTE scandal.
On September 18, 2007, cofounder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., Jose de Venecia III,
which was interestingly bypassed in the project’s bidding, testified in the Senate blue ribbon
committee that Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of the President, had intervened to get the ZTE
deal approved, a charge the latter denied.
De Venecia also described in a forum that then Commission on Elections (Comelec)
Chairman Benjamin Abalos appeared to be the “captain” of those who were brokering the ZTE
deal. De Venecia said Abalos offered him $10 million in December 2006 to back off from the
project.
On Sept. 26, 2007, Romulo Neri, who was then director general of the National Economic
and Development Authority, told the Senate that during a game of golf, Abalos offered him P200
million in exchange for endorsing the contract. Neri said he mentioned the bribe offer to Arroyo,
who told him not to accept it. In November 2007, two impeachment complaints were filed against
Arroyo over the NBN-ZTE project. Administration allies in the House of Representatives scuttled
the complaints.
On Feb. 8, 2008, Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., Neri’s consultant in the NBN project, testified
before the joint Senate committees on blue ribbon, trade and defense, that Abalos stood to gain a
huge commission from the deal.
He also tagged President Arroyo and her husband as the “masterminds behind the NBN-
ZTE crime.”
The NBN-ZTE scandal flagged many concerns one is the Supreme Court ruling on
executive privilege for Neri who invoked his right when he refused to disclose more specifics
about the ZTE deal to the Senate, tends to promote denseness in ODA utilization, this would in
the greater future become a loophole for another corruption scandal.
Competition in a capitalist society is truly beneficial, take Jose De Venecia III for example.
If he and his company had not been put down for the project, a whistleblower would not be born.
Perhaps de Venecia developed a scorn for this whole project and what better riddance it would be
than to reveal the shady transactions done. It’s a win-win situation for him and the people. In reality
De Venecia had more to lose by revealing the ZTE anomaly where he could just have accepted
Abalos’ bribe and forget about the whole matter. But seemingly, the truth is more of significance
to. If the Philippines is to improve economically and morally, we need more men like Joey De
Venecia to whistleblow crimes committed by Mike Arroyo, Benjamin Abalos and Leandro
Mendoza.
With President Duterte into the Philippine limelight, a clean term was promised. A
comprehensive National Broadband Network could prove worthy of this cause. His Build, Build,
Build project would be better holistically if it entails building physical establishments to serve the
people and then laying the foundations for a just and uncorrupted ruling for future generations to
emulate. A type of service the Filipino people deserve.

References
Nation. (2011, December 30). Retrieved from Inquirer.net:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/119639/what-went-before-the-nbn-zte-deal-2
News. (2009, August 29). Retrieved from GMA Network:
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/content/171031/looking-back-the-nbn-zte-
controversy/story/
Opinion. (n.d.). Retrieved from PhilStar: http://www.philstar.com/opinion/724277/editorial-no-
more-zte-scandals