Such squid tactics may actually favor the administration. These certainly prevent the Senate and the rest of the country from getting to the bottom of the US$329 million controversial project.

First of all, we find former socio-economic czar Romulo Neri trying his very best to keep from testifying further in the Senate about the NBN deal. Not that his silence is propping up the government’s credibility. Surely not after Neri previously admitted under oath that alleged deal broker and former poll chief Benjamin Abalos told him he had two hundred million big ones coming just to approve the deal. That point is being corroborated by Lozada. Neri even went to the extent of playing an adult version of "cops and robbers" with the Senate over the arrest warrant issued against him for refusing to testify and only surfaced after getting a status quo order from the Supreme Court.

Now comes Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza, Lozada’s boss, actually testifying with gusto before the Senate hearing. Not just Atienza but also a host of other top-rank government officials. They collectively decided to waive the supposed protection of the much-hated Executive Order No. 464, which was totally out of character for this administration’s officialdom.

Tempting as it is to think that at least some of the President’s men suddenly sprouted a conscience overnight, it hardly seems to be the case here. While Neri can only testify on the hard facts of the NBN project, Atienza and his horde can only talk about the obvious cover-up in the case, betting their credibility against Lozada’s in a bid to muddle the issue.

That seems to be focus of this administration and the principals in the deal – muddling the issue – to hide the real hard facts that will betray whether the NBN deal is grossly overpriced

Then there is the government announcing that there are death threats against Arroyo, which is equally strange since I was under the impression heads of state eat death threats for breakfast. That is why we have the Presidential Security Group, is it not? If the objective is to turn it into a death threat contest between Arroyo and Lozada, forget it. I do not think anyone will believe that Arroyo will be the whistleblower to the mega-billion anomalies in her administration.

Even Abalos himself has gotten into the "death threat" contest arguing that Lozada’s frequent presence at the Wack-Wack Golf Club does not support Lozada’s claims that he is a marked man. That brings up a very interesting point: Why was Abalos frequently at the golf club himself as if his duties then as poll chief left him with little time for anything else?

What we need to know about the whole deal is whether it was overpriced and, if true, by how much? The Senate should focus on this question. All it entails is asking what hardware, training and other support services we are getting exactly for the US$329 million loan from China. But it seems this administration does not want this question answered thoroughly.

ZTE Corp., the company in the middle of it all, may be right when it branded the Senate hearing as a political circus. Except that the ringmaster is not in the Senate but in Malacañang.