‘Deliver us from evil’–youth activists to Neri

By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:48:00 02/19/2008

MANILA, Philippines — The militant youth organization Anakbayan urged Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairman Romulo Neri to “deliver the nation from evil by speaking up” completely on the national broadband network (NBN) corruption scandal.

“We appeal to Secretary Neri to free himself from President [Gloria] Macapagal-Arroyo’s hold,” said Anakbayan chair Eleanor de Guzman.

De Guzman said they “understand his [Neri’s] dilemma. We offer him our moral support which we have granted solidly to his friend Rodolfo Noel ‘Jun’ Lozada [Jr.].”

At the same time, Anakbayan assailed Monday’s news conference where top Palace officials declared full support for the beleaguered Arroyo but where, according to the militant group, they “clearly held Neri back, short of dictating to him what to say to media.”

According to De Guzman, “the mere fact that Neri did not categorically deny Lozada’s claim that he called GMA [Arroyo’s initials] evil during a secret meeting in Makati last December with two opposition senators is a telltale sign of his misgivings.”

Anakbayan also criticized what it called the “sham proceedings” at the Office of the Ombudsman, which is undertaking its own investigation into the NBN deal, which was awarded to China’s ZTE Corp. but subsequently scrapped after the Senate began investigating allegations of kickbacks and overpricing surrounding the contract.

The group called the Ombudsman hearing as “another diversionary tactic by the Arroyo administration to make it appear that it is addressing the national broadband network/ZTE mess.”

“Its failure to gather public support and trust is totally expected since it’s another Palace minion — Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales — who initiated it in the first place,” said De Guzman.

Like the League of Filipino Students, the leftwing Alliance of Concerned Teachers has “given up on Neri to do a Jun Lozada.”

“We have no illusions whatsoever. Neri won’t turn against his patrons,” said ACT chairman Antonio Tinio.

LFS chairman Vencer Crisostomo said: “Clearly, Neri has already gone over to the dark side.”

“While at one point, he passed himself off as a whistle-blower who exposed former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.’s P200-million bribe offer in connection with the NBN-ZTE deal, he has cast his lot with GMA and her cabal,” said Crisostomo.

Both the LFS and ACT shared the view of other Neri critics that the former socio-economic planning secretary had “turned himself from a cowardly bureaucrat into a beneficiary of a hopelessly corrupt system.”

In calling for Neri’s resignation, Crisostomo said “the policy used in schools to discipline delinquent students should also be used in dealing with delinquent education officials like Neri.”