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In a report dated Feb. 10, 2008, Daily Tribune reporter Benjamin Pulta said an insider at the office of Gonzalez confirmed the series of meetings held between the Chinese diplomats and the top justice official prior to the abduction of Rodolfo Lozada Jr., allegedly by government security forces.
The same source said the Chinese Embassy's black limousine was seen frequently inside the justice department compound weeks before Lozada took the witness stand before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee regarding the scam-ridden deal between the government and China's ZTE Corporation, allegedly overpriced by not less than US$130 million.
This is the first such report of Chinese officials frequenting a government agency. The Chinese government appeared to be moving heaven and earth to push the ZTE deal, even if it would cost both Chinese and Filipino taxpayers over US$130 million.
An official at the Chinese Embassy in Manila was compelled to issue a statement after Lozada came out with information linking top officials of the Arroyo government to the China ZTE deal with the government. Arroyo has suspended the deal in the face of overwhelming criticism.
The diplomat said the Chinese government was very much concerned over the Senate probe into the broadband network deal, as it paints a bad image of the way Chinese companies do business in the Philippines and other parts of the world.
Adding a new twist to the story was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's order for Gonzalez to investigate the deal. Critics of the Arroyo government described the move as an insult to the collective intelligence and moral decency of the public.
Critics of the Arroyo administration have demanded that the president answer the accusations against her government at the Senate hearing on the ZTE deal. Activists have called for the president to resign.
A clear indication that the Department of Justice probe will lead to a whitewash is Gonzalez's decision not to involve the president's husband, the man who is at the center of the ongoing political drama. It is public knowledge that Mr. Arroyo was with the president on many occasions in China, when the contract was being negotiated between the Philippine government and its Chinese counterpart.
Anti-corruption groups have also dared the "changed and reformed" House of Representatives headed by newly installed House Speaker Prospero Nograles to ask Arroyo to let her husband, as well as officials of the Chinese Embassy in Manila and those from ZTE, to testify and tell all about the anomalous contract.
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(Gerry Albert Corpuz is a correspondent of Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He is also currently, the head of the information department of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. His website is www.gerryalbertcorpuz.motime.com, and he can be contacted at themanager98@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Gerry Albert Corpuz.)
