Neri clueless on who is behind the attack on his home

Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri said that he has no clue on who is behind the attack on his home early Friday.

"I have no idea, the police are investigating it," Neri said in an interview aired over dzBB, just a few hours after a group of unknown gunmen fired at his house in Retiro, Quezon City.

A Mrs. Castro, whose house is just across Neri�s, said that about four to five men alighted from a maroon Hyundai van at 9:15 a.m., disarmed one of Neri's security, and started strafing the SSS chief�s residence.

�Yung mga kotse ko na nakapark sa labas, punong-puno ng bala (My cars that were parked outside are now filled with bullets)," he said. The suspects� vehicle was later found abandoned about two blocks away from Neri's home

Neri said he was taking ashowering when the incident happened, thinking that the gunshots were just the sounds of a table falling.

He said the attack came as a total surprise, especially since he said he hasn�t received any threats lately.

�In fact, I reduced my security kasi wala namang (because there are no) threats," he said.

He said he has yet to decide whether to move to another house or not. �I don�t know yet, the matter is under investigation, we'll see," he said.

Getaway vehicles

Citing initial investigation by police, Neri said the men fired at the gate and peppered his SSS service vehicle with bullets. He said the men also hit parts of his house, including a water tank.

Neri�s security aide, an SSS employee identified as Benjamin Santillan, was injured in the hand when the suspects disarmed him of his cal-.45 pistol.

On the other hand, a report by dzBB�s Mao dela Cruz said police are now analyzing at least two getaway vehicles abandoned by the suspects two blocks from the site of the incident.

Police are also getting statements from neighbors to get leads on the suspects.

Neri became controversial in 2007, after claiming that he rejected a P200-million bribe attempt from then Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos in exchange for endorsing a $329.48-million national broadband network deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

Neri was then director general of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), which reviews proposed programs and projects similar to the broadband deal.

Arroyo witnesses deal signing

Records of the Senate inquiry into the scandal showed that Neri reported the alleged bribe attempt to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who supposedly told him not to accept the offer but to support the contract just the same. Mrs. Arroyo went on to witness the signing of the deal in China in April of 2007.

After the deal was exposed, Mrs. Arroyo had it cancelled, but maintained that there was nothing irregular with the deal.

Neri was subsequently relieved as economic planning secretary and NEDA chief and appointed chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Last year, however, he was named SSS president.

During the Senate inquiry, Neri refused to reveal more details about what the President told him, citing executive privilege. Militant groups had picketed his home to urge him to spill reveal what he knows, to no avail. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV