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THE
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) will
release the documents related to the cancelled national
broadband network (NBN) project only if the courts will
order the agency to do so.
Neda
acting Director General Augusto Santos earlier remained
staunch in upholding its “executive privilege” on the
documents of the NBN project, even with the possibility
of detention.
“If the
courts order [to] release the documents, then we will
release the documents,” Santos told reporters.
Santos
earlier told BusinessMirror that the letter he signed
invoking the Neda’s executive privilege was prepared by
the agency’s lawyer, and any action on the part of the
Neda will depend on the advice of the legal department.
If the
Senate remains firm in detaining Neda officials who fail
to produce the NBN documents,
Santos said he will still have to defer to the advice given by the
Neda lawyer.
Earlier,
Santos said the minutes of the Neda-Investment
Coordination Committee were confidential and could not
be submitted to the Senate. This, despite his
predecessor’s, Commission on Higher Education chairman
Romulo Neri, statement that the documents related to the
NBN project are already public documents.
The Neda
invoked its right to executive privilege despite a
subpoena issued by the Senate. The subpoena was signed
by Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and Sens. Alan
Peter Cayetano, chairman of the blue-ribbon committee;
Manuel Roxas II, chairman of the trade and commerce
committee; and Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the national
defense and security committee.
The
committees are jointly looking into the broadband deal
with China’s ZTE Co.
The
refusal of Neda to release the NBN documents has spurred
much controversy and criticism from many senators.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan even said a
clash between Malacañang and the Senate was inevitable
owing to the NBN project and the ZTE deal. |
