Alan Cayetano to move for disclosure of Neri’s exec session with Senate
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano will move for the disclosure of Romulo Neri’s September 26 closed-door session with three Senate committees that led the hearing on the controversial $329.48-million National Broadband Network (NBN) project with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp. “I will move for the opening of the records of what transpired during that executive session with Secretary Neri, if there’s any. The decision to open up the records will be based on the decision of the majority members of the committees that led the inquiry (on the ZTE deal)," Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, told GMANews.TV Tuesday night. It was during the said executive session where Sen. Joker Arroyo reportedly blocked Neri’s explosive testimony on the NBN project. It was also reported that Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya entered the members-only Senator’s Lounge and supposedly acted as Neri’s lawyer during the session. Sen. Arroyo and Andaya both denied the reports that came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on September 30. Neri was socio-economic planning secretary and director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) before he became chairman of the Commission on Higher Education. It was during Neri’s term at the NEDA when the proposed NBN project was reviewed. Neri said the NBN project was approved by NEDA last March 29. The project was awarded to ZTE Corp. last April 21. On October 2, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo informed Chinese President Hu Jintao that the Philippine government decided to scrap the deal with ZTE. Cayetano said that before he moves for the disclosure of what transpired during the September 26 session, they will first give Neri “one more chance to talk," in another hearing on the NBN project that will be conducted by the defense, trade and commerce and blue ribbon committees. Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier said that it was not clear whether the three committees indeed went into a closed-door session with Neri. It was earlier reported that senators decided to cancel the session after they observed that Neri was already down with fever. Asked whether the Senate held an executive session with Neri, Cayetano said, “That I can’t confirm nor deny." - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV