He’s quit, but his being on terminal leave, as someone familiar with the bureaucracy explained it to me, means “he can still claim his leave credits from the Comelec and perhaps even monetize it,” while another person explained the bureaucratic meaning to be, “the Comelec is still obliged to pay him the remainder of his salary and benefits.”…  in vacation pay.Anyway, apropos of Abalos, Lawyer says ‘mystery man’ behind Neri, JDV III:Villareal said this was after he got hold of some documents on Wednesday that reveal the involvement of politicians and government officials in a conspiracy to pin Abalos in the controversial NBN deal, which was scrapped by President Arroyo.”On Wednesday I was able to get hold of documents that say there are people behind Joey de Venecia and Romy Neri….  Or maybe, instead of a thorough grilling, all that can be accomplished is just a slight toasting: House may only touch 23% of P1.2-T nat’l budget.Meanwhile, even as Palace mulls new NBN project, and clarifies that $460-M Cyber Education deal not scrapped, there’s news that Central bank incurs losses on strong peso.Manuel Buencamino says the President is like Marcos in his last days in power: incontinent.Tony Lopez says the cost of doing business is going up, red tape is increasing.

This was in addition to the return of the President’s husband, obviously well-briefed on what he, in turn, should be saying: Mike Arroyo: I never said ‘Back off’.What I found very curious last night was that a couple of hours before the news of the President’s statement was released, the distinct possibility that the scheduled ZTE hearing for Thursday would end up being either canceled outright, or postponed, began to circulate….  The Senate, then, having already spent yesterday arguing its case before the Supreme Court (see No TRO on ‘Hello Garci’ probe; SC grills petitioners) and earning a minor victory (no TRO to stop the Hello Garci hearings) and faced with that probe called by an angry Joker Arroyo, and headed for a justifiable confrontation with Romulo Neri on his invocation of executive privilege, seemed poised for, well, a home run.As the Inquirer editorial for today put it, in The battle resumes: This returns us to the Senate, which is due to resume its joint committee hearings on the ZTE deal….  As their report puts it,The freeze was a result of the decision to scrap an all-member caucus last night where a proposed hearing tomorrow was to be taken up.The caucus was called to discuss how the Senate would pursue the inquiry after the resignation on Monday of Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos, the alleged broker of what was suspected as an overpriced supply contract with the Chinese company ZTE.Earlier in the day, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Senate investigation might not be relevant anymore after Abalos’ resignation.”Ngayong wala na yung object ng kanilang investigation, ano’ng relevance noon?”

Three, the ZTE scandal has implications that go to the heart of the survival of the GMA administration and ruling coalition–possibly more than the Garci tapes scandal itself.Secretary Neri is protecting not only the President but an entire arrangement regarding Chinese investments and loans in the Philippines….  However, as the ZTE drama unfolds, it is slowly becoming clear that what is at stake is the survival of the GMA administration itself.Given the situation that she failed to reconcile with the opposition after the 2007 elections, that she still does not have any agreement with any or all of the presidentiables, and that there is the inability (for the present) to force a martial rule, GMA is running a clear risk of going down even before the 2010 term ending….  The ruling coalition does not have a viable presidentiable at this time, cannot absorb the pressures, and may disintegrate well before 2010.The ZTE scandal may well be the Waterloo of the Arroyo presidency.Yesterday’s blog entry triggered a flashback in Slap Happy: there’s a related entry in Tongue In, Anew.Quixotic Kibitzer asks tough questions concerning the telcos and wiretapping.In an earlier blog entry, Ricky Carandang points out the AFP now has ample justifications for disciplining some of its personnel.

LONG VIEW Should thuggery trump secrecy? By Manuel L. Quezon III “…this is the Senate, not the mafia series the Sopranos.” MANILA, Philippines — When the House of Commons is summoned to listen to the Queen’s version of the State of the Nation Address, the doors are symbolically slammed in the face of the official [...]

Much later in the same hearing, this came out:Pimentel: I understand you’ve incurred the ire of some business people, because of your stand of privatization of arrastre service?Neri: There’s a monopoly, I favored allowing Harbor Center to compete, as our containter fees among highest costs in the world for containers…Pimentel: Among those angry is Ricky Razon?Neri: Well, met him at reception for Equitorial Guinea president, Speaker’s mother-in-law’s house, Forbes Park, it was there he accosted me, in effect telling me, in effect, you will allow Harbor Center to operate over my dead body.Those familiar with the inner circle of the President know that Enrique Razon wields great influence….  In other words, according to those claiming to be in the know, it was Neri’s decision on the ports issue that got him moved out of NEDA, and it had nothing to do with ZTE which, after all, Neri ended up signing off on. One source went as far as saying that as far as JDV3′s testimony that Multimedia Telephony was sold by JDV3 and now owned by Razon, the Sorianos, Server, etc., is true; a source mentioned Nono Ibazeta, now president of Psalm, formerly our ambassador to Iraq as a “padrino” but of what, exactly, was never clear (But as for the connection between the two?…  I think it’s the presence of Nonoy that stopped him,” one source said……Inside the Senators’ Lounge, Neri began to experience chills, and by one observer’s account, it might have been partly because he was afraid.The sources could not explain how Andaya got into the picture, but he was seen arriving at the Senate a few hours before the senators decided to take Neri to the executive session.“Basta dumating na lang, umupo doon (He just arrived and sat there),” a source said.The sources said Andaya told the senators not to press Neri to talk because the latter was sick.“Then kinalabit na niya si Neri,” a source said……The executive session was over in less than 30 minutes.My column today, tackles this dramatic story (I translated “kalabit” as “nudged,” which may or may not impart the proper imagery).