The Best of ZTE

Ducky Paredes of Malaya Newspaper wrote: Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited, ZTE for short, is among the best in the world. It is an Asian business that we, as Asians, ought to be proud of.

He said that “this is the company that is regarded, in our country, as among the lowest of the low primarily because its name has been dragged through the mud by among the lowest of the low characters in Philippine politics.”

“Actually, in the ongoing investigation extravaganza that the Senate is conducting, no shred of evidence has been shown that would indicate that ZTE bribed anyone or that the contract was overpriced or that it is even attended by any irregularity.”

“In the end, ZTE lost nothing but we, on the other hand, must be the laughingstock of the world. We allowed unsubstantiated allegations to be our basis for scuttling the NBN project. That the allegations of wrongdoing came from polluted sources many of whom obviously had an ax to grind made the affair doubly comical."

Comment:

If ZTE is indeed the best in the world, it cannot just be “dragged through the mud” particularly “by among the lowest of the low characters in Philippine politics”. Nobody can put a good man or Company down.

About the main characters in Philippine politics I remember ever having mentioned ZTE, in one form or another, are Senators. Was Ducky Paredes perhaps referring to any or all of them as among the lowest of the low?

Why must we be the laughingstock of the world? Remember that it was PGMA herself, not us nor anybody else, who scuttled the NBN project. Only PGMA herself could possibly be accused of acting on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations. That, perhaps, the allegations of wrongdoing came from polluted sources many of whom obviously had an ax to grind made her decision doubly comical.

In canceling the contract she did not wait for the Senate to produce a shred of evidence “that would indicate that ZTE bribed anyone or that the contract was overpriced or that is even attended by any irregularity.” Presumably, she already has it.