SEN. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said Malacañang could no longer shield President Arroyo from her direct involvement in the botched NBN-ZTE broadband deal by justifying her meeting with officials of ZTE Corp in Shenzhen, China as part of her "private time."

"It’s propriety, stupid!" Lacson said.

"Malacañang simply refuses to see the point. Whether it’s her private time or official, she had already cheated her way to Malacañang and, therefore, represents 89 million Filipinos wherever she goes," he added.

Lacson stressed Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye missed the point when he fended off questions over President Arroyo’s meeting with ZTE executives by saying the meeting was part of President Arroyo’s "private time."

Lacson noted when the meeting took place, ZTE Corp. already was taking part in the bidding for the national broadband network project.

Under such circumstances, Lacson said that at best, it would be improper for Arroyo to meet with representatives of a bidder, as it sends "signals" to other bidders.

Lacson said the only viable explanation for such impropriety would be if someone stood to gain a big "tong-pats (profit)" from the meeting.

"Malacañang said it is normal. Perhaps it is, at least for them. After all, we have a president who talked to a poll commissioner during the election so what do we expect?" Lacson said.

Lacson also questioned Malacañang’s use of "private time" as its latest weapon in refusing to explain the meeting between the President and the ZTE officials.

He noted the Palace had already twisted the principle of executive privilege to thwart the Senate from looking into the $329-million ZTE broadband network deal mess.

"Malacañang has the propensity to invent new doctrines in governance," he said. "What executive order will it issue to justify such act of impropriety, presidential private time when committing a crime?" he asked.

Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico, whose witness "Alex" had presented pictures of the First Couple at the Shenzhen Golf Club, said the President committed impeachable offenses when she met secretly with the ZTE officials on Nov. 2, 2006, and withheld this information from the people.

ABOVE SUSPICION

Senators Mar Roxas and Francis Escudero earlier said the President should personally explain the circumstances and the agenda of the meeting.

"Otherwise, this social encounter may be misconstrued as the reason behind the sudden shift from a build-operate-transfer project to a supply contract with a sovereign guarantee," Roxas said.

Escudero said: "What was really discussed there? What are the circumstances behind the meeting, how did they meet there, and was the decision to award them a contract finalized there?"

Escudero said a President could "not just be brought anywhere to meet people."

"Government officials have to be above suspicion," he said.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the type of emotion being felt by the new ZTE witness is nothing different from what Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada and Joey de Venecia felt.

"Takot na takot," Cruz said.

Cruz said he knows the identity of the new witness but won’t tell.

He said the new witness is very credible considering the amount of stress he underwent over the past few weeks.

"You don’t just go out there and say things that are not true because why will you expose yourself to danger if what you’re saying is just lies," he said.

JDV A ‘CREDIBLE WITNESS’

Malacañang said former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. being a "credible witness" could vouch that there was nothing irregular in the meeting between the First Couple and ZTE officials in Shenzhen.

"If there had been discussions which may have been considered inappropriate I believe Speaker Joe de Venecia should have spoken right after the social luncheon," said Bunye.

Bunye insisted that De Venecia should be asked on what transpired.

Bunye also criticized the opposition for not giving President Arroyo enough credit for promoting investments in the country even if she was on vacation or on "private time."