Tuesday, October 02, 2007 Aguilar: Sacrificial move to save the queen By George Aguilar Rational Animal
HOW utterly disappointing! After all the revelations and anguish created by the actions of this commissioner, Abalos may very well have the last laugh. He has made a fool of all of us including the congresspersons and the senators that have been investigating the same.
He has pulled a fast one by calling it quits just as the noose of an impeachment act was just about to close in on his net. GMA and her cabinet must be heaving sighs of relief over this latest twist in the ZTE scandal, this NBN drama.
Of course Abalos was lying when he said that he didn't have any connections to the Chinese company ZTE. Of course he was lying when he declared that he wasn't brokering for ZTE on the NBN deal. Of course he was lying when he denied bribing Joey De Venecia and Romulo Neri.
Abalos may have broken several laws and has engaged in treasonous, criminal activities (bribing is still a crime as far as I can recall). But Abalos may have taken the coward's way out of facing more grilling at the House and possibly linking the First Gentleman or even GMA to the ZTE mess. He did this by resigning Monday afternoon just as his term was about to end early next year anyway.
Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos has unexpectedly and suddenly resigned amid allegations of bribery over the controversial NBN project of the government.
Abalos announced his resignation last Monday even before an impeachment complaint filed against him last week at the House of Representatives could prosper and turn into another political issue of its own. This move was calculated to diffuse the rising tension or growing anger by the public over a national broadband system that is not just overpriced but is not needed by the Filipino people for the moment.
Abalos resignation is just the latest surprise move by the administration "to save the queen." In short Abalos was the pawn or even a bishop that was sacrificed to save GMA.
If Abalos did not resign, he would have been grilled by Congress, whose chairman's son he had accused of lying under oath. He would have been nailed by the Senate for perjury on several occasions and he would have been forced to make the necessary revelations to connect other powerful people who are or have brokered for the ZTE/NBN deal or have received similar bribes or he would have to lie some more, and more, and more just to protect someone high up in Philippine governance.
It would have been gratifying and even amusing to see Abalos wriggling, twisting, and turning away from an impeachment that he so very much deserve.
It's a pity that the impeachment is now "mute and academic" because Abalos has already resigned.
But this doesn't mean that GMA is already off the hook. Now that Abalos is no longer an issue the public's focus will move to Romulo Neri who, while claiming that he will no longer participate in any Senate hearing, is actually easier to intimidate than a callous shyster like Abalos. Neri is obviously protecting his boss. The key to unlocking the mysteries of the NBN lies with Neri's fickle mind.
But even if Neri will refuse to cooperate with more Senate investigations on the NBN deal this refusal would point indirectly to GMA's involvement with ZTE.
What the political opposition should do is to continue to investigate and eventually scrap the ZTE deal. They should also file criminal cases against Abalos just to make sure that he won't be able to get away with his crimes against the Filipino people. Don't let Abalos escape with just a mere resignation. Throw him in jail!
