Hindi na natuto

Ricky Carandang his blog:

Some inquiring minds think that the suspension was actually prompted by Arroyo watching Romulo Neri on TV last night vowing to tell all he knows about the NBN deal. The argument is that now that the deal has been suspended, we can all ”move on” and there’s no need for Neri to appear before the senate anymore. I can already imagine the chorus of the “lets move on” crowd filling the columns of newspapers and blogs and airwaves of TV and radio stations. I anticipate Joker Arroyo saying on Wednesday that since the project has been suspended, there is no need to investigate the matter further and therefore we can let sleeping dogs lie. Its a win-win solution. The opposition can claim victory by blocking another DOTC white elephant, no one goes after Abalos and Mike Arroyo anymore and Joe De Venecia remains Speaker…for now. Of course there are some loose ends. Joey De Venecia is hung out to dry, and if his allgations are true, someone forfeits their $200 commission, and Abalos will have to find some way to return the “monies” already advanced by ZTE, or the generals will break his kneecaps.

That's a realistic political assessment from Ricky. Ganyan rin ang nangyari sa Venable deal at Norberto Gonzales eh. At yung sinabi ni Ricky tungkol kay Joker sounds familiar:

SENATORS Panfilo Lacson and Ramon Magsaysay Jr. yesterday asked the Blue Ribbon committee to reopen its investigations on the controversial Venable LLP lobby contract now that national security adviser Norberto Gonzales has returned to work.

But committee chairman Sen. Joker Arroyo said there is no need to reopen the investigation since the contract has already been terminated, and with only Gonzales as a resource person, resuming hearings would be a "waste of time."

Sa pagkakaalala ko, wala ring naparusahan sa shady deal na ito.

(But IIRC, it was joker arroyo who also said na maam arroyo may have survived Hello Garci, but if there's another huge scandal implicating her and her fam, babagsak raw ang gobierno niya. I can't remember where I read that article re his comments anymore though.

Eniweys, this ZTE broadband deal is post-GLORIAGATE, hindi ba? So hindi pa rin natuto ang mga mokong sa malacanang, but i tend to agree with Ricky's opinion na hindi matatanggal si Arroyo dito.)

And check out Manuel's blog, MLQ3 has a nice roundup of the latest on the ZTE deal. Read the part about Tony Abaya's lines being tapped.

UPDATE: China faces spy scandal fallout

Analyst: Chinese Face Spy Scandal Fallout
SEPTEMBER 03, 2007

A report suggesting that the Chinese military has hacked into German government computers could have a negative impact on the prospects in Western markets of Chinese equipment vendors Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp., believes an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort .

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported recently that computers in the German chancellery and the foreign, economic, and research ministries had been infected with Chinese spyware software, and German officials say they believe the hackers were linked to China's People's Liberation Army. (See China's Premier 'Gravely Concerned' by Hack on Germany and China to Use Computer Viruses as Cyberwarfare First Strike.)

The incident overshadowed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's state visit last week to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

But the ramifications could go far beyond international relations and even damage Chinese companies' prospects for IT and telecom contracts in the West, believes Dresdner Kleinwort analyst Per Lindberg.

"The ability of Huawei and ZTE to participate in, let alone win, telecom infrastructure tenders in the Western hemisphere may have lessened considerably following last week's shock report," writes Lindberg in a research note issued Monday. "It could trigger a return to national security clearance when it comes to procurement of telecom networks," he adds.