The key to this whole he said she said situation is Neri...
He knows a lot about what happened pero gi gag order lang siya ni GMA (by invoking executive privilege).
To place the whole thing in perspective.... there are only 2 possibilities..... Abalos is lying... or Neri and JDVIII are lying...
If you question the credibility of the three just ask this one question to all 3 of them..
"Why would he be lying?"
1. For abalos... he's just defending himself against any allegations of wrongdoing...
2. for JDV III.. he may just be a disgruntled businessman who lost the bid and is out to get payback.
3. For Neri.... he would lie because

It really doesnt make sense why he would be lying... it's obvious he's protecting the president pero he knows his testimony against abalos would damage the Comelec Chairman and raise questions about GMA's credibility. It's like shooting urself in the foot...
Neri is not telling us what the president said after he reported the 200 bribe.
The breaks in this case can come from 2 ppl... (Abalos and Neri)...
1. If abalos in an attempt to clear his name suddenly becomes a star witness and brokers an immunity deal... its gonna be a tell all affair and he's gonna reveal everything about the Hello Garci and all the other issues.
2. If Neri is grilled enough and pressured so that he will think of his own welfare before the presidents. He might just spill the beans on his conversation with the president.
In this case... you have witnesses testifying.. both Neri and JDVIII give first hand testimonies of graft and corruption... yet with all witnesses.. the defense will always try to discredit the witness first to make his testimony null and void (ex. Drug use). In this case.. the evidence is there.. (testimonies, discrepancies in the approval of the project, whitewashing of the bidding and other procurement procedures) The problem here is that the people holding the evidence are in cahoots with the persons in Power.