BY PETER TABINGO

BUSINESS leaders and other members of the private sector are proposing the creation of an independent commission to probe the ZTE deal, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said yesterday.

Favila made the statement after a meeting with leaders from business, the Church and the academe.

He said the idea is to put up an independent commission with nominees to be named by the private sector "so nobody cast doubts" on their leanings.

He said he will bring up the proposal for an independent commission to President Arroyo.

Jose Miguel Arroyo failed to show up at the start of the public hearing of the Office of the Ombudsman in the NBN-ZTE deal as his lawyer Ruy Rondain said he was not served with a subpoena.

Acting Higher Education chair Romulo Neri, and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. also were no-shows. Their lawyers said they also did not receive any subpoena.

Only former Elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. and Jose "Joey" de Venecia III appeared before the panel led by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, a former classmate of Mike Arroyo and known to be close to the First Family, decided to inhibit herself, saying her concern is that the hearing and the eventual resolution leave no room for doubt.

The Ombudsman also summoned complainants former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., lawyers Roberto Rafael Pulido, Harry Roque Jr. and Oliver Lozano, Reps. Joel Villanueva (Cibac) and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel (Akbayan), Fr. Jose Dizon, Ma. Dominga Padilla, Roel Garcia and Bebu Bulchand.

Only Baraquel, Roque, Francisco, Bulchand and Garcia were present as the lawyers of the others said there were not served subpoenas.

Casimiro is assisted by Emilio Gonzales III, deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Office (MOLEO); Robert Kallos, deputy special prosecutor; Rodolfo Elman, assistant Ombudsman in Mindanao; and Caesar Asuncion, director of the Asset Investigation Bureau.

Respondents were ordered to submit their counter-affidavits within 10 days.

Next hearing is on March 4.

Gutierrez said her decision to order a public hearing into the ZTE deal was not to duplicate the Senate inquiry.

She said the findings of the Senate inquiry will form part of the evidence that her office will consider in its own investigation.

Gutierrez denied her office "slept" on the ZTE controversy, saying seven complaints, which have been assigned to different graft investigators, are proceeding at different stages.

She said some of the investigations have been completed and recommendations were already submitted.

But she admitted that the explosive nature of Lozada’s testimony has affected the progress of the probe.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) described Gutierrez’s gesture as an "act of hypocrisy."

"The people are not gullible. Just because Gutierrez defaulted from the case, it does not automatically mean this institution can provide us with genuine justice and political clarity. Its long history of inaction and of being fence sitters amid rampant graft and corruption is phenomenal," said Milo Tanhuling, FDC secretary general.

DOJ PROBE ON

The Department of Justice fact-finding investigation begins today on possible criminal involvement of some government officials and private individuals in the irregularities of the ZTE deal.

Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda said the five-man prosecutor team will focus on the filing of perjury charges and violation of the government procurement law.

Transportation Secretary Lean-dro Mendoza has confirmed his presence through his representative DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III.

Neri will be represented by his lawyer.

Pineda said the DOJ’s investigation is distinct from the investigations by the Senate and the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said the panel will scrutinize the affidavits of those invited by the Senate to testify on the NBN-ZTE scandal.

Pineda said there is no pressure from Malacañang to pin down Lozada Jr., even though the Office of the Solicitor General has confirmed that it will file perjury raps against the witness and his family in connection with his allegations of abduction.

The DOJ will also invite Lozada, Joey de Venecia and Abalos.

Pineda said the panel will evaluate whether there is a need to invite Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the panel should look into Lozada’s finances after receiving reports that he did not receive any salary as president and chief executive officer of Philippine Forest Corporation.

Favila said the leaders from business and private sector proposed that government appointees to the independent probe body be rigidly screened and that government tap expertise of the private sector.

Edgar Chua, president of the Management Association of the Philippines; Eduardo Francisco, president of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines; Samie Lim, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc.; Rufino Margate, secretary-general of the Federation of Philippine Industries; Dr. Ramon Cercado and Edison Chua, secretary and treasurer, respectively, of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, were in the meeting. – Irma Isip, Peter Tabingo, Job Realubit and Evangeline de Vera