No deal yet with ZTE, only supplier’s contract--Arroyo execs

No deal yet with ZTE, only supplier’s contract--Arroyo execs


By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- There is no contract yet between the government and China's ZTE Corporation for the implementation of the $330-million national broadband network project, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s officials insisted Thursday.

Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said what was signed in April was a prospective supplier's contract.

Neri, who now temporarily sits as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, said the supplier's contract would take effect only once a loan agreement was signed, adding that a loan agreement "will have an effect of an executive agreement" between the Philippines and China.

In a separate interview, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves corroborated Neri’s statement.

The Supreme Court issued an indefinite temporary restraining order on the project last Tuesday in response to a petition filed by Amsterdam Holding Inc. (AHI), one of the losing bidders, which claimed that not only their rights but those of the Filipino people would be violated if the project would push through.

But Neri reiterated that "there was no contract so to speak."

Teves added that both countries were still at the "talking stage, without going into the nitty-gritty yet."

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE vice president Yu Yong signed the contract on April 21 during the President’s visit to Boao, China. The contract was reported stolen shortly after the signing but was later reconstituted and re-signed.