(draft being finalized)
Finally, the President speaks. She said: The night before the signing of the ZTE contract she was advised that there were irregularities in the contract. (DZRH interview 8:00 am this morning as quoted by www.gmanews.tv)
I will put here the direct quotes from her (and my translation) so you could look at it with me; the syntax of the direct quotes is strange, at best awkward. I did not include the paraphrased form as it appears in the gmanews.tv website.
“Sumbong sa akin the night before signing of the supply contract, that was one of many signings. (Pero) paano mo i-cancel the night before, may ibang bansa kang kausap. (www.gmanews.tv quoting DZRH), she said. (“I was told the night before signing of the supply contract, that was one of many signings. (But) how do you cancel the night before, you’ve already agreed with a foreign country?”).
“Pero sa unang pagkakataon kausap ko ang pangulo ng China para sabihin kailangan kanselahin ang proyekto. Sa una nagulat, sa pangalawa, naintindihan niya at magkaibigan pa rin kami kahit kanselado ang proyekto (www.gmanews.tv quoting DZRH), she added. (“But at the first opportunity, i talked to the President of China to tell him that the project needs to be cancelled. On one hand, he was surprised, on the other, he understood and we were still friends even if the project had been cancelled.”)
“Ang taumbayan galit sa katiwalian ganoon din ako,” she said. (“People are angry with corruption, and so am i.”)
Referring to her suspension of 11 ODA projects and how she asked transparency groups like the Bishops’-Businessmen’s Conference, the Makati Business Club, and Transparency Accountability Network monitor the procurement and bidding processes, she said “Ito ang reporma sa sistema para mabawasan ang katiwalian sa pamahalaan.” (“This is the reform in the system to lessen corruption in government.”)
Those are the direct quotes.
[to be continued, for my comments on language pertinent laws, defensibility or indefensibility of the President’s “confession” (if you look at the language, it is studied to the point of being a literal translation from English); be back this afternoon.]
