Senator Richard Gordon knots ZTE-NBN deal

Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee already concluded that the mothballed ZTE-NBN deal is not a mom and pop operations. No. For him, it’s a father and son caper. That’s how Gordon sees it.

Never mind if there’s a photo of the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo with his wife Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with ZTE officials at Shenzhen Golf and Country Club. Nothing wrong when the First Gentleman met ZTE officials and project proponent Joey de Venecia III and uttered those infamous “back off” threats as nothing sort of an everyday expression from his friend.

Nothing wrong when Joey de Venecia III spilt the beans to the “most corrupt government project of all time” which was worth P 16 billion pesos, with a few billions thrown in good measure to Abalos, Neri and Mike Arroyo. Of course, Gordon saw nothing wrong when the President left for China while her husband lay sick in bed only to witness the contract signing of ZTE officials with DOTC officials, led by Secretary Leandro Mendoza.

And probably, Gordon would just flash his toothy smile and wink when he is reminded of that debacle in China, when DOTC officials reportedly lost the only signed copy of the deal. Of course, for Gordon, it is too presumptious for colleague and former Blue Ribbons chair Alan Peter Cayetano to say that the deal stinks as high up as the First Couple.

And obviously, Gordon saw nothing wrong when Mrs. Arroyo’s met with former NEDA chief Romulo Neri and told him to “just accept the money and approve the deal.” Or that infamous meeting between Jun Lozada and the First Gentleman when Lozada reminded everyone to “moderate the greed” because this could blow them all over. ” Bubukol ito, ” for Gordon, probably meant a description of the First Gentleman’s big tummy.

I’m beginning to think that the reason why Gordon wants to be chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee is he wants to ingratiate himself with the First Family. Is he serving as the First Couple’s hatchet man or he’s just being himself? I remember a few years ago when the Americans were still running Clark and Subic.

When cases of abuses were filed against American servicemen, Gordon saw nothing wrong with the accused safely inside the bases facility and waited for days before the cases were dismissed. Gordon saw nothing wrong with protecting the Americans rather than those comfort girls in those Zambales honky tonks. And of course, Gordon found nothing wrong when he showed the world how he wept unabashedly in public while his fellow Americans left our shores.

Gordon also saw nothing wrong with Americans spraying dirty water to Gordon’s fellow Filipinos protesting in Subic. Gordon even saw those protestors as “monkeys”, just like what those WASPs think of us.

So, I’m not really surprised that Gordon wants to crucify the whistleblowers than the masterminds. Or Gordon is doing it because Joey de Venecia stands to get his seat in the senatorial elections?

Or, probably, that was the concession Gordon got because America and his friends, Mrs. Arroyo already agreed to revive the Clark and Subic bases and Gordon wants nothing sort of getting his old post back? Or, Gordon really saw nothing wrong with his logic.