MANILA, Philippines -- Administration officials, from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo down to her allies in the provinces, have dismissed the ongoing Senate investigation of the national broadband network (NBN) project as ?political noise,? ?grandstanding? or ?drama.? But even if that is all it is, at the very least the investigation has succeeded in rousing the Filipino people from their indifference so that every time the Senate conducts a hearing, millions are riveted to their TV sets, hanging on to every question being asked and every word being said in reply. Now people can smell the awful stink of the $329-million contract with China?s ZTE Corp. whose signing sent the President stealing away from her husband?s sickbed ?like a thief in the night,? to use the Malacañang Press Office?s own felicitous phrase. In fact, the administration?s reactions, some of which border on the criminal, belie the notion that the whole affair is nothing more than political pornography.

It was Jose de Venecia III who first cried foul after his company lost its bid to set up the NBN. He said he lost because then-Chair Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections brokered the deal with ZTE, with the help of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. When Romulo Neri, former director general of the National Economic Development Authority, confirmed Abalos? central role in the negotiations and accused him of offering a P200-million bribe, Abalos promptly resigned. Soon after that, Malacañang announced that the contract with ZTE was cancelled.

What followed next was a tug-of-war between Malacañang and the Senate over the continuation of Neri?s testimony, particularly with regard to the President?s role in the decision to convert the project from a build-operate-transfer scheme (where the government would not spend anything to build the digital telecommunications network) to a supply contract financed by a loan from the Chinese government. Neri, with Malacañang?s encouragement and support, refused to attend the Senate hearings, claiming his conversations with the President are covered by executive privilege.

But Neri had a consultant and close friend -- communications engineer Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. -- who was privy to the negotiations on the NBN project, and senators were after him. After the Senate issued a subpoena to compel Lozada to testify, the President?s men hastily sent him to Hong Kong. When he insisted on coming home, airport officials, police officers and at least one member of the Presidential Security Group took him on a ride that reached as far as Laguna, until his frantic wife raised the alarm through the media and his handlers had to take him to La Salle Greenhills where his family had sought sanctuary. But not before he was made to sign a request for security, addressed to a unit of the Philippine National Police, and an affidavit essentially disclaiming he met with any politicians or government officials on the NBN deal.

When Lozada finally got to the Senate, he had a number of damning revelations to make, among them:

? The ZTE deal was overpriced by at least $130 million.

? The First Gentleman might have had a hand in facilitating the loan from the Chinese government.

? Top administration officials conspired to prevent him from testifying before the Senate and gave him large sums of money for his expenses.

? He was held against his will by law enforcement officers in the guise of providing security.

All these things -- from the grand scheme to defraud the government of billions of pesos to the mobilization of the entire apparatus of government to prevent a vital witness from talking -- came to light in the Senate hearings. As a result, a rotten deal has been called off and maybe, just maybe, some powerful individuals will have to answer for high crimes like fraud, bribery, obstruction of justice and kidnapping.

Instead of the minor irritation Malacañang is trying to pass it off to be, the Senate noise has awakened the nation to the reality of massive corruption and abuse of power. Now a movement is rapidly growing to seek the truth and demand punishment for all those responsible for this sordid mess. Malacañang may want to shut if off completely, but this is one kind of noise our people should welcome.