She was thinking perhaps that with an electoral mandate, even if acquired by cheating, she could proceed with her "Strong Republic" program.

I am saying this because while reflecting on what the investigation of the grossly overpriced NBN/ZTE deal exposed, there are persons who say that even if Gloria Arroyo cheated in the 2004 elections, people would have tolerated it as long she gave good governance. With good governance, we mean honesty and competence are given premium.

The problem, however, is that getting an electoral mandate by cheating and good governance don’t go together. You can’t have a government of laws, if you have an administration that is in power by having violated laws.

In the press conference last Friday, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, by way of discrediting Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, whose official title is president of Philippine Forest Corporation, asked what’s his business being involved in a telecommunication project for the National Economic Development Corporation.

A reporter had the good sense of also asking Mendoza why was a Comelec chairman involved in a telecommunication project. Mendoza had no answer to that.

In fact, one wonders why Abalos is so powerful that he could call up Mike Arroyo, husband of Gloria Arroyo, and tell him, "Ang hirap nyo pa lang kausap. Kalimutan nyo na lahat ang usapan natin."

This conversation, as related by Lozada, happened in December 2006. He said ZTE representatives Fan Yang and Yu Yong were already getting frantic because the project was not moving although they "had already given enough advances to Chairman Abalos." Our other sources said at this point ZTE had already advanced $6 million.

Lozada said the project was being stalled by Joey de Venecia’s refusal to agree to a $130 million commission for Abalos. Lozada said Abalos was considering not dealing with the young De Venecia anymore and instead go direct to Mike Arroyo. He said that was not possible because NEDA chief Romy Neri, whom he represented in that meeting, instructed him that the project could only be done through a build-operate-transfer scheme and not through a direct loan. He also said his understanding was that was also the instruction of Gloria Arroyo.

Lozada said Abalos told him, "Halika, tawagan natin si FG."

Lozada heard him talking to someone who he assumed was Mike Arroyo, "Pare, nandito yung taga NEDA sa tabi ko, hindi raw puwedeng i-utang yung project ko."

The next thing he heard was Abalos telling Mike Arroyo, "Ang hirap nyo pa lang kausap. Kalimutan nyo na lahat ang usapan natin."

After he put down the phone, Abalos said, "Hayaan mo, tatawag yan." Surely enough, in a few minutes, Mike Arroyo called again.

The next day, he found out that the Chinese ambassador had sent a letter saying there was "money available for the NBN project."

To answer the question that Secretary Mendoza declined to address, one has to go back to the original sin which is the cheating in the 2004 elections.

Since she is in power not by the will of the people, she is held hostage by a group of people who did not have qualms of committing the crime of thwarting the will of the people to fulfill her ambition of remaining in power.. Gloria Arroyo owes those people big time.

That’s why when Abalos came collecting his fee, Gloria and Mike Arroyo cannot say "No."

But the Filipino people can tell her "Tama na! Sobra na! Alis na!"

***

Enteng Romano of the Black and White Movement sent me this article that Lozada wrote sometime in October (as far as I know, this has not been published) on "What is Neri Afraid to Say and Why."

"Many speculations have been made as to what Neri knows about the ZTE-NBN most particularly the direct involvement of Pres. Gloria Arroyo in this abominable affair. After his damaging "Sec. May 200 ka dito" demolition of Abalos, the discredited former Comelec Chairman, many were left disappointed when Neri suddenly clamped up when the senators started asking him about the nature of his conversation with Arroyo. No amount of coaxing, cajoling and threats was enough to break his Code of Omerta. The question on many people’s mind was, What was Neri trying to protect when he repeatedly invoked "executive privilege" during that gruelling 12-hour Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on live television?

"We have known the Truth all along as one of the few people that Neri confided his predicament during those fateful days of April 2006, and how he wanted to resign his post of NEDA director general and secretary for socio-economic planning over this incident where he lost all his moral respect for Pres. Gloria Arroyo.

"We are doing this document to give the public an understanding of this predicament.

"What is Neri afraid to tell the public? He is afraid to tell the public that after he reported the Abalos P200 million peso bribe offer, Arroyo casually told him to ignore it and work for its recommendation for approval anyway. That when he protested that it is too controversial and may attract the wrong kind of attention from media, Arroyo retorted back ‘Pakulo lang ni Joey yan and his father.’

"When he tried to reason that it may not be accommodated in the Chinese ODA package because it has been filled up with a list of projects already, Arroyo again ordered him to remove the low cost housing project and some water project to accommodate the ZTE-NBN deal in the ODA loan. That when he attempted to reason that it may not be approved in time for the Boao Forum which was only two days to go from that fateful April day, Arroyo with raised voice told him to include the ZTE-NBN project in the agenda of the following day’s meeting of a combined NEDA Board and Cabinet Committee, who as expected promptly approved the project paving the way for the contract signing between ZTE and DOTC in China the next day. Neri is afraid to tell the public that this conversation took place between him and Arroyo because it might spark another impeachment complaint against Arroyo.

"Why is Neri afraid to tell the public about this conversation with Arroyo? He is afraid that another impeachment will simply result to more expenses of public funds similar to the Hyatt 10 impeachment crisis, because as DBM Secretary who replaced Boncodin, he was entrusted with the large scale DBM payola operation of Arroyo to congressmen, senators and governors not quite similar to the crude Panlilio incident that the public is witnessing now. He is afraid with a more partisan Andaya at the helm of DBM, more public funds will be spent to buy the silence and favor of these greedy legislators and local executives.

"He is afraid that with Arroyo’s firm control of public funds she can buy all the necessary support from most sectors of society to keep her in power. He is afraid that even if the opposition knows about this conversation with Arroyo, he is afraid that the opposition will not pursue a serious impeachment proceeding against Arroyo, because it is not to their political interest that Noli de Castro become president in case Arroyo is impeached and become a more formidable political opponent in 2010.

"This insincere and unpatriotic goal of the opposition is already being manifested by the malicious speed that the Erap pardon is being cooked by Ronnie Puno together with the Erap camp to hastily put a united front of "birds of the same corrupt feather" coalition against the emerging JDV led political opposition.

"He is afraid that even if the Church knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, the Church will still not call for her resignation due to the closeness of Arroyo’s trusted lady liaison to the Cardinal of Manila who was very effective during the "Hello Garci" crisis. That Arroyo’s Religious Affairs Operators have the Bishops firmly in their "donation" graces, as again manifested by the quick rebuttal of the Mindanao bishops’ of the call of their fellow bishops in Luzon who where calling for the resignation of Arroyo just after Arroyo gave them a visit in Mindanao.

"He is afraid that even if the military knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the fraudulent ZTE-NBN deal, the AFP brass is much indebted to Arroyo for their position and the perks that go with their position, that they have demonstrated this twisted loyalty with their willingness to detain, remove from the service and even shoot their own men for voicing out their legitimate concerns regarding the corruption and moral authority of their Commander in Chief.

"It is a sad spectacle to see the respected warriors of the Marines and Special Forces rot in jail with their ideals, while their men are dying even without receiving the measly P150 per day combat pay that was promised to them by Arroyo due to lack of funds and generals gets a gift bag similar to those given to the governors and congressmen just for having dinner with Arroyo the day after that infamous breakfast and lunch meeting where bribe money flowed scandalously free.

"He is afraid that even if the media knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN scam, Media will simply wither in the torrents of cash and favors similar to how the Hyatt 10, Hello Garci crisis were killed in the media headlines and Radio and TV coverage. Although he believes in the integrity of a handful of journalists, he believes that a handful of these mavericks cannot withstand the hordes of paid lackeys of Malacañang. Especially that the Arroyo crisis team is now being handled by the best mercenary money can buy, from Ramos Sulo Operation, Erap’s DILG and now Arroyo’s trouble-shooter, Ronnie Puno. Ably supported by the Media and PR money from Pagcor being handled by Cerge Remonde to buy positive airtime, headlines and editorials.

"He is afraid that even if the Business Sector knows about the truth of Arroyo’s direct involvement to defraud the coffers of the taxes they are paying, the businessmen will be reluctant to rock the boat of the current economic uptrend, especially with the very close personal and business relationship of the so called leaders of the big business like Ricky Razon of ICTSI, Donald Dee of PCCI and Francis Chua of the Filipino-Chinese Federation to Arroyo herself. He is afraid that the hard earned remittances of Filipino OFWs that is keeping the economy booming and that can keep the economy afloat even under any administration is being wasted under this unholy alliance of Arroyo and her favored businessmen.

"He is afraid that even if the Civil Society knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, that the Civil Society is now tired of mass actions after witnessing two failed EDSA revolutions, that Civil Society is now afflicted with a "Rally Fatigue" and cannot muster enough public outrage to denounce Arroyo’s "corruption with impunity". He is afraid that the middle class is now indifferent to the corruption that goes around them, not realizing that the middle class are the ones mainly carrying the burden of the loan payments for these corrupt deals. He is afraid that the middle class are more interested to become an OFW and to leave this country leaving their family and children behind, and may not care anymore about the crimes being committed against their country by its own president.

"He is afraid that even if the masa, the students, the workers knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal to steal precious resources from public funds, that they are now too poor and impoverished to be able to afford the time to join mass actions against the abuses of the Arroyo administration, that these former vanguards of mass actions in the country are now completely dependent on financial resources of professional organizers and have turned themselves into a "Rally for hire" groups rather than a true and genuine political gathering shouting for reforms.

"He is afraid that the public may not know the extent of corruption in this country and may wrongly believe that they can cure corruption by simply replacing Arroyo with another person. He is afraid that the public may overlook the systemic and institutionalized nature of the source of corruption in this country, he is afraid that the people will again opt for a regime change without concern or a plan to correct the root causes of corruption in the country. He is afraid that people may not realize that it is not bringing Arroyo down that is difficult, it is establishing a new order that is the difficult task.

"This is the predicament of Neri which I want people to realize especially to those who are asking Neri to tell the truth."