[…] John Nery wants to know what question you would ask if you were a senator in […]

for Mendoza/Neri:

1. provide clear timeline of conception and development of NBN project;
2. ask for feasibility study showing benefits and costs;
3. was there any draft terms of reference for project showing minimum specifications?

for JdVIII:

1. show calculations on ‘overprice’;
2. does his phone log bear out claims of phone calls/invitations from Mendoza and Abalos?

to appropriate resource persons:

1. What did ’suspension order’ mean? Was the executive branch in contempt of the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order?
2. What specific activities in the process did the suspension order actually stop?

Hi John,

I’ll ask ASec Formoso this question:

If he is that confident that ZTE will offer the best package technical and financial package, why didn’t DOTC just bid out the NBN openly and thereby spare us of this controversy?

The specs below came from his own Powerpoint:

Delivery and installation of a Wimax-based NBN nationwide, covering a total of 25,844 barangays, comprising of
- 3000 Base Stations
- 300 Backbone Stations
- 30 IPMPLS Nodes
- 25,844 CPEs with IAD/VOIP Terminals
- 1 IDC & NOC with back up, and
- Managed Services & Trainings

I believe it is mentally dishonest of him to assume that AHI and Arescom’s respective solutions will cost $562 and $1 billion by merely working back on available data when no such bidding actually took place.

Dapat ang tanungin ng mga Senador ay yung sarili nila.”Qualified ba akong maging Senador?”Katulad ngayon, may mga Senador tayo gaya nila Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid, Jinggoy Estrada, ano ang mapapapala mo sa mga iyan, kapag yan ang mga magtatanong mabuti pang makinig ka na lang sa mga session sa mga Barangay, palagay ko mas marami ka pang matututuhan…he.he.he….

[…] Inquirer Current, John Nery points to criticism of fatuous questions, and asks, what questions should the senators […]

For the DOTC Secretary and Asst Secretary (Mendoza and Formoso):

1) Did you request any proposal from local telecom service providers if they can provide the govt with its own broadband network? If not, why not?

To Secretary Neri:

What were the instances in which Chairman Abalos approached / discussed with you the NBN project? What exactly did he say? Would you say he “lobbied” for ZTE?

Why do you think was Chairman Abalos involved in the NBN negotiations?

Did Chairman Abalos offer you a bribe in exchange for approval of the deal? If so, relate the sequence of events that led to the bribe offer.

Did you inform the president of the bribe offer? What was her response? Did you get the impression that she knew that Abalos was brokering the deal?

Why did you approve the NBN project if you had questions and misgivings initially?

Were there other persons who tried to influence your decision re the NBN project? Who are they and how did they signify their intentions?

Did the president dissuade you from testifying today?

Monday this week, what were you inclined to do when told that you had to join the president’s US trip? Did you refuse or did Sec Ermita actually call you early evening to instruct you to stay and appear before the Senate? If the latter, what do you think made the president change her mind?

The Boss….i agree with you…100%…in addition ang pinaka-importanteng itanong nila sa mga sarili nila ay “ANO BA ANG NAGAWA KO BILANG ISANG SENADOR PARA MAPABUTI ANG PAMUMUHAY NG MAMAYANG PILIPINO AT MAIANGAT SA MAAYOS NA KALAGAYAN ANG BANSANG PILIPINAS?” kasama jan ang lahat ng politiko natin..itanong nila sa sarili nila yan…

How i wish I will have the chance na itanong yan sa mga politiko natin…I will bet my life…walang maisagot na tama ang mga politiko natin….

if i were a Senator in the philippines, my number one question, would be how can we stop jueteng activities to make it legal and contribute to charitable institution to really help the deserving poor, which is to solve the no. 1 problem of the philippines which is poverty, imagine all these millions that former president Erap has accumulated within three years in office, which he can still be pardon if he return the money that was used to buy belle resources stocks to GSIS and SSS members, what i have read that it was 3.14 dollars per share, where if it was a successful business venture it would have triple its value and would create Gambling Den similar to what we have in Australia like Star City Casino and crown casino, besides Pagcor is the most successful government own business that deals with legal Gambling not Jueteng anak ng pating.

… I will focus on other issues…
1/ re govt assets selling.. check who are the buyers? any ghost buyer from the inner circle?
2/ long term benefits from selling our natural resources. Australia is earning a lot in processing aluminum to make ingots. Jap co. are the dominant supplier of hard disc drive alum parts bec they have the tech.
3/ help RP to become the next Cayman’s island
4/ help RP to have exclusive schools equal to UK & US that will cater to foreign students.
5/ Since we need more doctors, make their tuition cheaper to attract more students

It’s sad that distance learning already being used in thailand, indonesia, india, mexico, netherlands, china was affected by this scandal. millions of students are deprived of a quantum leap in quality education. notice jesli lapus doesn’t need the entire cabinet to back him up in his congressional/senate hearings…

If I were a senator, the following would be my questions?

1. Why was there no public bidding on the project? (this may have been already answered)

2. Why was Abalos always present in the so-called “back-room” meetings and negotiations? Although he has denied most of the allegations of JDV III, its funny he never denied his presence in those meetings in China or at Wack Wack Golf Club.

3. Why can’t the Senate use its subpoena powers to force Abalos to attend the hearings and testify?

If I will answer all your questions, this would be my answer based on what I heard from the hearing.

There should be no bidding because this is a tied loan. Malinaw di ba?

If I am the senator, I will ask this question to JDV3, Bondoc, Neri, and Suplico.

Are all of you related to Speaker JDV?
Is there a conspiracy because all of you are connected to Speaker JDV?

Let’s admit that they cannot prove bribery because there is no evidence to prove this allegation but we can look on the credibility of these witnesses. Since all of the accusers are connected to JDV, I conclude that there is a grand conspiracy here, that is to, sabi nga sa tagalog, brasuhin ang pamahalaan, because JDV3 did not get what he want. He is a brat.

para sa lahat:

bakit pa ninyo pinalalaki ang issue, nalalaman tuloy ng taong bayan na may kumikita sa mga deal na yan, pati kaming mga senador ay madadamay pa dyan.

If I were senator, i would ask other the other senators….are the questions being propounded in the NBN deals really in aid of legislation or are they to pursue personal agendas and grandstanding under the guise of senate inquiry? It really is quite clear that the questions raised by senator jinggoy are more of an attempt to cross examine a witness without the ability of a lawyer. In short a mediocre attempt to act as a lawyer during a cross examination without any idea how to conduct one. Basta ang target… get information beneficial to my agenda.

I have two sets of questions. (sorry) for Neri.

A.1. Did the head of NEDA BOARD agree, approve and sign the ZTE Broadband project?
A.2. Who is the head of the NEDA BOARD? (He answered this already.)

B.1. Did any higher official influenced you to sign and approve the said project? (Sen.Legarda asked this and Neri invoked R.E.P.)
B.2. Who is the executive with whom you intend to invoke this priviledge for?

Enrico, how can you claim “conspiracy” when the documents speak for themselves. and the govt’s actions and sentences contadict themselves.

kung nakapagpaliwanag silang mabuti, this things wouldnt be like this kahit pa sino pa man ang mag conspire.

Mr. Nery,

You are right. Most senators don’t know how to ask questions, wittingly or unwittingly.

They are doing these investigations “kuno” not to ferret out the truth but to grandstand. I am sure they won’t be able to elicit the real truth from their resource persons because these honorable “senatongs” are not interested in the truth. All they want is 15 second of fame.

If they are really interested for the truth to come out why don’t they initiate actions that will bring these matters to court. Our courts are more equipped intellectually to evaluate evidences that will lead us to the truth.

Maybe, Senator Santiago is right in saying that these investigations are wasting a lot of valuable time to move our impoverished nation forward.

Dan Pena

I have 2 sets (sorry) of questions for Neri…2 of these were already asked…

A.1. Did the Head of the NEDA BOARD agree, approve and sign the ZTE NBN project?
A.2. Who is the Head of the NEDA BOARD? (Neri have answered this 2nd question already.)

B.1. Is there any higher official who influenced you to approve and sign the Broadband Project? (Sen.Legarda already asked this question and Neri invokes R.E.P.)
B.2. Then, who is this executive whom you invoke this priviledge for?

Questions:
Sec. Mendoza - where’s the original contract? How was it lost hours after signing? Can you provide us ZTE’s copy of the original contract?

JDV3 - why were you meeting & dealing with Abalos & ZTE officials when you knew very well they were committing a crime? Why did you get involved in this project when the law explicitly prohibits you to do that?

Neri - why didn’t you report the bribe offer to the Ombudsman or to Congress? Do you know attempted bribery is a crime and you may be guilty of ommission not exposing it?

Abalos - why don’t you resign or take a leave until your term ends out of delicadeza? Can you retire for good for the sake of our country?

I’ll ask Sec. Andaya, why is our pork barrels not yet released by Malacanang.

In a way tama nga si Senator Santiago when she said the hearing is just a waste of time. The conduct of the hearing so far was not in aid of legislation but in aid of their next election. Everybody seems to be engrossed in trying to earn some pogi points. It’s already very clear that the system(s) in place regarding bidding and approval of government contracts is broken and outdated. The best thing they can do right now, if the intricacies of the concept of legislating a check and balance system regarding government contracts is beyong their heads, is to commission the top law and business schools in the country to study and submit proposals on how to correct the system.

Contrary to what Sen. Santiago said, any hearing that exposes corruption in government is NEVER a waste of time. Perhaps it is a waste of time or even a threat to those who wish corrupt men and women to prevail in position.

One must find ways for a better check and balance in the system AND expose these thick faced people engaged in graft and corruption in government.

Again to Neri:

“Noong sinabi mo kay Pres. ang bribery, anong reaksyon niya?…hindi mo alam dahil nasa telepono kayo,…pero hindi ba sya na shock? tulad mo na shock ka rin nong sinabihan kang “may 200 ka rito”. “Hindi ba nag react(in voice tone) si Presidente ng “Haaaa? Anooo??…Walang hiyang Abalos na yan!”…O kaya kalmante lang si Presidente kasi alam niya na may suhulan ngang nangyayari..”