Administration officials described resigned Philippine Forest Corp. president and Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. as a "cry baby" whose role in the $329.4 million national broadband network (NBN) project with China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunications (ZTE) Corp. they could not ascertain.

"Paiyak-iyak pa. Crying boy," Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said what is important is that Malacañang be able to present its experts to erase misconceptions about the NBN.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the public should listen to all sides and determine who is telling the truth.

In a press conference in Malacañang, Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza said he did not know the actual role played by Lozada in the NBN project.

His statement was supported by Transportation Undersecretary Lorenzo Formoso III and former Commission on Information and Communications Technology chairman Ramon Sales.

They said they have not seen him or his signature in official communications and documents.

Mendoza said he was puzzled Lozada, if he was indeed a consultant of Planning secretary Romulo, was directly consulting with the private companies that were bidding for the project like ZTE and Amsterdam Holdings Inc.

Formoso and Sales who were directly involved in the crafting of the NBN project said they did not know Lozada and did not see him in any meetings on the project.

Sales hinted that Lozada may actually be lobbying for one of the bidders but it was not clear which.

Mendoza and Formoso also reiterated there was no overpricing in the cancelled deal with ZTE.

Formoso said while Lozada was correct in saying that the ZTE initial proposal called for $262 million, it covered only 30 percent of the country.

He said government wanted 100 percent coverage. He said this led to the expansion of the project and the rise in cost to $329 million.

He also defended the govern-ment’s decision to adopt a government-to-government deal over a build-operate-transfer scheme.

He said a BOT scheme would be more expensive.

He said the loan China offered was payable in 20 years with about 3 percent interest while commercial loans carried an interest of 7.5-8 percent.

Formoso added that another important consideration in preferring a government-to-government deal was national security concerns.

Formoso, Mendoza and Sales said they evaluated all the proposals of the different companies and found the ZTE better.

Constitution.

The three officials also said that neither First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo nor former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. had called them up about the project.

Mendoza and Formoso added that the government is still keen on pushing the NBN project despite the controversies as it is part of the priority projects of the administration.