Press Release
February 18, 2008

KIKO TO NERI: WITHDRAW YOUR SC PETITION AND TELL ALL!

With NBN ZTE witness Jun Lozada's further revelation today at the Senate Blue Ribbon hearing disclosing former socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri's meeting with two senators to express his desire to expose corruption in the administration, Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan challenged Neri to face the Upper Chamber and uncover the truth for the public.

"We challenge Sec. Neri to order his lawyers to withdraw his SC petition and appear in the Senate hearings post haste. As a true public servant, he needs to answer first to the people, and the people want truth. He needs to tell all, and he needs to tell all now," Kiko asserted.

Neri has a pending petition before the Supreme Court for the Senate's order to arrest him for contempt for failing to appear before the Blue Ribbon Committee in light of the NBN ZTE hearing. He contests that the arrest order was "a further grave abuse of discretion" on the part of the senators and cites executive privilege in his defense.

"Executive privilege cannot be invoked to cover up a crime. Now that the burden lies on Malacañang to salvage public trust, Sec. Neri must stop running away from his responsibility to let the Filipino people in on this crucial matter of public interest," Kiko ended.

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