In an unexpected twist, a new witness in the Senate hearing on the scrapped National Broadband Network (NBN) project denied he had first-hand, personal knowledge about the $41 million in alleged kickbacks given to the First Couple and other officials to secure the $329 million deal with China's ZTE Corp..Cable television executive Leo San Miguel said he was hired by ZTE vice-president Yu Yong as a technical consultant for the broadband project.
But San Miguel denied any knowledge of the $41 million in alleged kickbacks given to the First Couple and other officials, although he said he overheard some officials discussing their commissions if the project pushed through.
He told the Senate joint panel inquiry that he would have earned at least $1.6 million or 0.5 percent of the total project cost, plus reimbursement of his expenses, had the project been pursued with ZTE.
He said businessman Ruben Reyes and former chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. of the Commission on Elections were among those who discussed commissions during one of the meetings on the NBN deal.
San Miguel belied the accusation of another witness, Dante Madriaga, that he is a member of the “Greedy Group”, which included Reyes, Abalos and retired police general Quirino dela Torre.
When asked by Lacson if he had knowledge of alleged commissions and kickbacks received by officials in the project, San Miguel merely replied: “I was not aware whatsoever. I am not confirming or denying anything. I don't have any direct knowledge."
San Miguel said he hired Madriaga as a consultant for the NBN-ZTE deal because of his knowledge of a rejected $130 million telecommunications project that was similar to the broadband project.
“I hired Mr. Madriaga on the basis that any engineer should be diligent in doing his work, that he would like to get all the possible combinations,” he said.
San Miguel also said he shelled out between P3 million to P4 million from his own pocket for the NBN project.
San Miguel was expected to provide first-hand information on the purported $41-million advance made by ZTE to the First Couple and other government officials and their cronies to secure the $329-million NBN project.
The Senate earlier issued subpoenas to seven persons, including the purported members of the "Greedy Group."
-via abs-cbn interactive
