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What do we know for certain? If we were to take a page from Descartes and doubt everything about the continuing political crisis, perhaps we can draw up a short list of incontestable facts that reasonable people, from whatever side, can readily agree on. It is hard to take anyone seriously, for example, who disputes the following:
Ben Abalos, when he was the chairman of the Commission on Elections, was personally involved in a government project — the national broadband network (NBN) — that had nothing to do with elections.
The NBN contract awarded to the Chinese state firm ZTE Corp. was problematic, as even President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has belatedly acknowledged.
The Arroyo administration cooperated — or conspired — to prevent Jun Lozada from testifying about the ZTE-NBN deal before the Senate.
Romy Neri, the socioeconomic planning secretary at the time of the signing of the ZTE contract and a key witness in the Senate investigation, has touched base with members of the political opposition.
An over-assertive Executive has narrowed the public’s options for holding the Arroyo administration accountable for any anomalies arising from the ZTE-NBN controversy. (Perhaps the President’s men will quibble with “over-assertive,” but there is no question that the administration’s hard-line stance, in place since at least the “Hello, Garci” scandal broke in 2005, assumes greater scope for Executive discretion.)
Unfortunately for Malacañang’s many spokesmen, these undisputed facts justify the growing public disgust that can be seen even from behind the wrought-iron walls of Malacañang.
We are not even talking about other facts which the administration and its allies will dispute, but from which we can draw reasonable inferences. When we add these to the mix — the all-but-apparent cover-up after the administration failed to prevent Lozada from testifying before the Senate, the obvious vendetta against ex-Speaker Jose de Venecia on account of his son Joey’s role in exposing the ZTE-NBN deal, the continuing effort to rationalize constitutional revision as a mode of political survival — the stench becomes unbearable. The only question becomes: If we ask for truth and do not get it, if we demand accountability and do not get relief, how do we show our outrage? — John Nery, Philippine Daily Inquirer
