skirting once again

“May the wandering and the wayward awaken to the struggle of heroes?
May the struggle of heroes be tended by the flight of grace!
May the world be made whole, even as it was in the beginning!
Blessed be”

THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS SO, the Falsehood never shall be. Is there corruption committed by the Palace, and the Senate is seeking to expose? Still, we arise and witness for the NBN-ZTE mystery which is everywhere present, but they quickly diverge in their language and story, for each is shaped and colored by the temperament of a particular people and place. But we know there are patterns and paths that never change. The great confusion here is whether President Arroyo or the Senate inquiry is seeking for the TRUTH. It shows the hither and dithering journey- THAT HERO’S JOURNEY, the soul’s journey- that begins the hour we awaken and suddenly know with a certainty that it is OUR journey. We proceed, to and fro.

The President’s men -- both key witnesses to the purported overpricing and bribery that accompanied the since-aborted deal -- have since made themselves scarce. Mr. Lozada – the president of the Philippine Forestry Corp flew to Hong Kong on the way to London on Wednesday (Jan. 30) morning. Secretary Neri -- the socioeconomic planning secretary when the NBN-ZTE deal was approved --testified at the Senate inquiry last Sept. 26 but refused to answer questions on his conversations with Pres. Arroyo regarding the issue. He said he had been instructed by Executive Secretary Ermita to invoke “executive privilege.”

On the accusation that the Palace was preventing Secretary Neri from again testifying in order to protect the president’s husband, Atty. “Mike” Arroyo, Atty. Apostol -- the president’s chief legal counsel said: “According to Sec. Neri, he said everything he had to say for 12 hours already. He already testified. What do they want now?” He said it was Sec. Neri who was refusing to further testify at the Senate inquiry. Asked whether Palace officials could be charged by the Senate if it would be proven later that they had aided Sec. Neri in snubbing the Senate subpoena and warrant, Atty. Apostol said: “In criminal law, I will be an accessory after the fact. But this is Senate law, so there is no accessory.”

For his part, Press Secretary Bunye issued a statement deploring “the continued moves of the Senate” in issuing warrants for the arrest of executive officials. He said the issuance of arrest warrants against Secretary Neri and Mr. Lozada was “clearly not in aid of legislation but in aid of politics-as-usual.” “Hearings on a contract that has long been cancelled, with witnesses who have said all they have to say distract the nation from its urgent business and disturb the momentum for growth and social reforms,” he said.

The Philippine National Police, through its spokesperson Senior Supt. Bartolome, said it would not move to help in the arrest of Secretary Neri and Mr. Lozada. He said General Razon; PNP Director had asked the Department of Justice for an opinion on what should be the police’s exact involvement in the enforcement of the warrants. Pending the issuance of the opinion, the PNP will not get involved in the matter concerning Sec. Neri and Mr. Lozada, he said.

Senator Cayetano, chair of the blue ribbon committee at the Senate expressed disappointment at Secretary Neri -- who had earlier told the Senate that he was offered a P200-million bribe by Mr. Abalos, the then chair of the Commission on Elections -- for rebuffing the chamber’s invitations to testify once more on the NBN-ZTE deal. He warned further that Retired General Balajadia, senate’s sergeant at arms “will not stop until the order of the Senate is fulfilled.”
Ret. Gen. Balajadia also warned that anyone hiding Secretary Neri was obstructing justice and would be dealt with accordingly. Asked to comment on the accusation that Malacañang could be hiding Sec. Neri, he said that if this were true, the act was tantamount to obstruction of justice. But he did not deploy an arrest team to the Palace, saying his office had “no information on the presence of the Sec. Neri in Malacañang.” He said his office would not look for Sec. Neri there on the basis of hearsay.

In a news forum, Senator Villar -- the senate president called on the police, military and even the Presidential Security Guard not to interfere in the matter concerning Secretary Neri, whom he described as a “fugitive”. “To be fair, at this point I’m not sure whether the PSG will interfere in the operation of the law. If Sec. Neri takes refuge [in Malacañang], that will be a big problem, and we will have to discuss it,” he said. He urged Sec. Neri to voluntarily appear before the Senate and promised to extend to the latter “maximum courtesy,” including the use of his office, while the senators immediately scheduled a hearing. “Our intention here is not to put someone behind bars but just to have him testify at the Senate inquiry. What is important to us is for him to say what he knows about the NBN-ZTE deal,” he added in Filipino.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, the senate majority leader said Secretary Neri had abused the Senate’s patience. “His request for reconsideration [of the contempt citation and arrest order] should be denied outright. It would be better for him to prepare to answer our questions instead of attempting to further delay the proceedings with this request,” he said. However Senator Enrile said the attempt to arrest Secretary Neri would prove futile because the senators could not force him to answer their questions if he did not want to. “What is it that they want to elicit from Sec. Neri? He has already testified. It is the right of the person to remain silent,” said Sen. Enrile, who did not sign the arrest order on Sec. Neri but initiated and signed that on Mr. Lozada.

Whichever which we believe the Palace or the Senate inquiry into the $329-million NBN-ZTE deal is winding our way through the light and dark world towards the great TRUTH at the very center of things. Sometimes we advance inward with a rush of progress, then round a corner to find ourselves skirting once again the bleak edges of outer darkness.