Thus, Section 28, Art. II (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) of the Constitution states – "Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest."

Transparency connotes a full, honest and voluntary disclosure of the truth on the part of those in government. The sovereign people are entitled to know the truth. Truth frees us from the entangling webs of lies and deceit. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (Bible, John 8:32). Truth cements and bridges the trust and confidence of the people in their government.

The ZTE-NBN mess has disturbed the equilibrium of, and sharply divided the nation and the people. It has sired clashing versions on the truth behind the government procurement transaction infested with alleged vice and greed. The contrasting accounts, littered with foul and vile depictions of the fiasco, are a classic paragon of the elusiveness and many-sidedness of the naked, unvarnished truth, albeit there is only one truthful version. The conflicting and differing testimonies have ignited varied reactions from associations or groups avidly desirous to know the truth of what really transpired before and during the contract signing. And, more importantly, who, when and where the President was informed of the flaws or infirmities that caused the President cancel the contract.

Like a powerful magnet, the ZTE-NBN imbroglio/quandary has drawn the different branches of government to offer differing viewpoints on how to resolve the bedlam or mess. Never has a controversy ignited so much passion, fury and hunger for the truth from people of different walks of life. The active center stage role of the youth is a refreshing welcome. After all, the youth is the hope and inheritors of the nation. The nuns and youth outpaced and shamed the clergy of its amorphous stance. Their way of pursuing the truth chagrined bishops. Truth is not only a moral value. It is also a political value. It involves decent and responsible conscience. But truth, though simple, is often slippery. Truth hurts, as the saying goes. As Shakespeare wrote in Measure for Measure, Act 5, Scene 1: "Truth is truth/To the end of reckoning."

Sadly, in the search and thirst for the truth, personalities and political interests have interspersed in varying directions. The search has diffused into conflicting personal and/or political interests, accented by the various agencies jockeying to seek or confuse the truth. Detractors have angrily blamed high government officials for what they perceive as a deliberate obstruction in the search for the truth. The increasing dimensional tone of denunciations against perceived personalities have become massive and pervasive, via rallies and media. They fomented and provoked GMA Resign Movement. The demands of resignation have triggered loyal or allied Congressmen, Governors and other local officials and numerous and diverse sectors of society to publish expensive ads manifesting support for the President. Thus, the battle in the quest for objective truth has transformed itself into a political episode. The print media and the airwaves have been saturated with unabashed expressions of support for or against the President. Oddly, however, the conflicting ads do not/cannot lend support in the search for the truth. The discordant ads simply demonstrate the anger, or sympathy of the adversarial postures. The search for truth is sidelined or marginalized. The redeeming element of this sordid and unpleasant affair is that the personalities involved are unmasked slowly. The sprinkles of truth come in trickles. To compound the malady, the conflicting versions have been befuddled and beclouded by contrasting media reports. The sifting of the truth has become the proverbial needle in the haystack. Worse, it has been muddled and obfuscated by wily political operators.

"All truths," Galileo said, "are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." Truth is the mother of all virtues. It is the elixir of a vibrant democracy and the food of decent and transparent governance.

Truth is often paralyzed by men’s indifference or mischief. Some people stretch the truth; others mutilate it. However, it cannot be broken. It has no substitute. Politics and politicians serve as smokescreen to obscure the truth, rather than as a beacon or searchlight to reveal it. Politicians design and color the truth to suit their personal interests or agenda, even at the sacrifice of the nation and people. However, truth never dies. Although, it is not always popular, it is always right.

Our leaders suffer from the poverty of truth in government transactions and in honest governance. We have been living in a make-believe world, cluttered with half truths, deceit and lies. The ZTE-NBN mess serves to underscore the importance of truth in governance. It is an eye-opener. It has jolted us from lethargy and apathy. There is hunger for the truth. Truth is the crying need of the hour. It should be made a strong pillar in our constitutional democracy.

Truth springs from an exhaustive determination and objective analysis of the facts, reasoned deliberation and fair and just disposition. In the pursuit of ZTE fiasco, the competent authority must first investigate and determine the facts and the participation of the dramatis personae and then let due process takes its course. This is the way of the rule of law. This is the righteous path in the search of truth.

Truth does not need a defender for it can defend itself. It fears nothing but concealment or distortion. Truth prevails in the end.

The truth will always be out/discovered, if not now, certainly later; if not here on earth, certainly somewhere. It may be concealed, or distorted, but not for long. The truth will surface in due time. As the Bible says "Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be found and brought to light."(Luke 8:17; Mark 4:22)