Favila ‘at a loss’ over House summons on NBN deal

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- Trade Secretary Peter Favila said he was “a little bit at a loss” as to why he was being summoned by the House of Representatives to answer questions on the $329 million national broadband network contract between the government and the ZTE Corp. of China.

Appearing at a budget hearing in the House Thursday, Favila pointed to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) as the agency tasked to handle the NBN project.

“In fact, I received an invitation sent by the Office of the Speaker to a question hour and I already replied to the Speaker’s office that I did not get the permission to attend to this question hour,” Favila said, responding to Deputy Minority Floor Leader Roilo Golez when questioned about his absence Wednesday.

“But really, I am a little bit at a loss here because this is DoTC, as I understand, the DoTC is the implementing agency,” he said.

Favila said he had written Speaker Jose de Venecia to inquire why he was being summoned to a question hour. But he said he had not received an answer from the Speaker up to this day.

“Not that I’m questioning the Speaker but I’m just seeking a clarification,” he said.

As trade secretary, Favila explained that his responsibility was to look after the country’s bilateral relations with other trading partners in neighboring countries.

Wednesday’s question hour did not push through as the House decided to cancel its session because of the promulgation of the verdict on former president Joseph Estrada.

The Supreme Court issued an indefinite temporary restraining order (TRO) over the NBN agreement over allegations of corruption and had asked the government to comment on a petition filed by a losing bidder.