Not-So-Secret
Here we go again… opening up the ZTE-NBN aborted deal to the public to discredit the present administration, and now with focus on the alleged involvement of the First Couple. Time has come again when anti-administration personalities saw another opportunity to fabricate accounts, exploit them, and mislead the public through allegations. On
The write up was obviously intended to create another political turmoil. According to the column, Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico pronounced that the First Couple made an undisclosed trip to the main office of ZTE Corp. in
Suplico stressed that the President accepting the invitation to go to the ZTE meeting was highly questionable because she is supposed to have no business meeting with suppliers. With extreme ignorance, Suplico never noticed that the President is making efforts to get in touch with investors during her extra time, not to mention to take advantage of the opportunity of her presence in the country. There was really nothing questionable about the President visiting foreign investors. It is the President’s job to entice foreign investors since it helps a lot in the economic progress of our country, whereas ZTE was supposedly of big help to the development of our country. Suplico should have been tactful enough and think first before opening his lips and speak baseless accusations.
The witness, who asked not to be named, told that Ben Abaloswas also present at the golf game and at the meeting, along with the First Gentleman and several other persons. The witness however omitted the fact that Rep Jose De Venecia Jr (JDV) was also there during the event. There were so much speculations why the author of the initial report did not include the name of JDV in her column. Probably because she wants to protect her godfather (yes, JDV was the godfather of Juliet Labog-Javellana of Inquirer). Such fact was indicative that even the media is voluntary meddling and or being used in such baseless assumptions. Suplico’s secret witness supported his allegations with pictures of the First Couple at the Shenzhen Golf Club, to include a second picture wherein the President is supposedly talking to someone. That “someone” was intentionally digitally removed from the picture. If they were to divulge things on public, then why on earth would they cover the face of that “someone?” The mere fact that somebody was taking pictures during the game proves that the First Couples’ golf activities was open to the public and was no secret. Security personnel are not that stupid to allow people to snap pictures of the mentioned VIPs if it was a secret meeting. It was quite too obvious that such witness is just fabricating stories behind those pictures that anybody in the vicinity could have taken during the occasion. Anti-administration forces are also not far from being a part of this story-telling-a-lie (again) stratagem. In addition, the witness’ account states that the First Couple and several other officials arrived at the Shenzhen Golf Club in the morning of
Some facts are obviously being twisted in recent reports. Some indicated that the ZTE denied the visit. The truth is; the ZTE company has never issued any statement regarding the incident. Anybody can make a call to the ZTE to make inquiries and check out for themselves if the company ever made some pronouncements. The First Gentleman allegedly denied his presence in Shenzhen. The fact is; he had not made any statement regarding the allegations yet. These facts relatively make some reporters guilty of fabricating stories.
Now these are facts: Juliet Labog-Javellana of Inquirer was urged by his godfather, JDV, to write fabricated stories about the First Family’s visit in Shenzhen that was intended to bring the aborted ZTE-NBN deal to the public once again. Months earlier, JDV tried to peddle Labog’s stories to ABS-CBN but was turned down since the broadcasting company was skeptical about the story. Of course, media practitioners would not be taking the risk of losing their credibility. However, when the Lopez Group of Companies tripped off at Meralco’s anomalous power rates, ABS-CBN bought the story so as to divert the public’s attention from the Meralco blunders to the ZTE-NBN aborted deal. The Lopezes are evidently using their companies to defend Meralco against public scrutiny.
And now, where would this recycled issue go through? The eventualities will be similar to what happened when Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada created a political turmoil where opportunists, power grabbers and anti-administration forces dipped into the controversy for media mileage and grandstanding. Lots of government time and resources will once again be wasted with no productive output. Suplico and his secret witness are expected to bring out fabricated accusations to discredit the present administration. They even have the strategy of posting intriguing pictures in the tri-media, including the internet, to incite the public. Meanwhile, spotlight-hungry Senators will be at it once again to get a piece of the cake. They are better off investigating Meralco’s questionable power rate since resolving the irregularities and anti-consumer practices of the Lopez Group of Companies will help a lot in uplifting the lives of the Filipinos.