Thursday, February 28, 2008 Graft, plunder filed vs. Gloria
MANILA—Two civic groups filed a complaint of plunder and corruption yesterday against President Arroyo, amid growing calls for her to resign after her husband was implicated in a large-scale bribery scandal.
Led by former Senate President Jovito Salonga, the nationalist groups Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan accused Arroyo of violating ethical standards when she—by her own admission in a radio interview—signed a US$329-million contract with ZTE Corp. despite being warned of anomalies in the deal the night before.
The complaint was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman. Investigators may file charges in court if there is enough evidence.
“She is indeed immune from suits but not from investigation,” Salonga told reporters.
“The Constitution said that the President is immune from suits but not from any investigation and the ombudsman is likewise mandated to conduct and subject to investigation any public official, even if he or she is the President,” he added.
He cited, as precedent, a similar case filed by then ombudsman Aniano Desierto against former president Joseph Estrada.
At least two other criminal complaints have been filed with the ombudsman against Arroyo, but they remain unresolved.
ZTE denial
The latest plunder complaint came amid nationally televised Senate testimonies, where former project consultants testified that the president’s husband Jose Miguel and former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. benefited from huge kickbacks linked to the aborted telecommunications contract.
Arroyo has not directly addressed the allegations against her and her husband but says that she opposes corruption and that her family does no business with the government.
ZTE yesterday denied claims made by engineer Dante Madriaga that it paid US$41 million in bribes to officials.
Testifying on Tuesday, Madriaga introduced himself as a former ZTE consultant and head of the national broadband network project’s design team.
But ZTE said he “never directly took part in the NBN project operations” and “testified ... on matters he did not participate in.”
“ZTE reiterates that it did not bribe anyone,” a ZTE statement said.
While all those involved have denied the allegations, the scandal and anti-Arroyo street protests have grown and coup rumors are swirling again.
Police said they have received reliable intelligence reports of a possible plot by junior military officers and others to overthrow the government.
Neri again
Officials cited the reports in postponing yesterday’s scheduled arraignment of an opposition senator, a former army commander and 16 other soldiers charged with rebellion for occupying a hotel last year with the aim of triggering an anti-Arroyo uprising.
In filing the complaint, Salonga also cited the admission before the Senate by Romulo Neri that he reported to President Arroyo the alleged offer of about P200 million in bribe money by then election chairman Abalos.
Neri was then the secretary general of the National Economic and Development Authority. He is now the acting chairman of the Commission on Higher Education.
That she allowed the contract to proceed despite Neri’s report, Salonga said, is more than enough evidence to warrant the filing of charges against the President.
“Respondent, despite the foregoing knowledge, did not stop or suspend the deal, let alone order its investigation, but instead went on to authorize and sanction the signing of the NBN-ZTE agreement between her, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE Corp. vice president Yu Yong,” said Salonga.
‘Remiss’
That she cancelled the contract more than five months after her having known of the anomaly—and only after the Senate had exposed the scandal—shows that the President was remiss in her duty to uphold the law, Salonga added.
But the former lawmaker also said they will ask Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and her deputy Orlando Casimiro to inhibit themselves from hearing the case.
He cited some “bad experiences” in the past, such as when the ombudsman ruled against their complaint against Commission on Elections officials in the multimillion-peso computerization project that the Supreme Court had earlier voided.
He said the potential violations were “impeachable offenses” but doubted that one such complaint would prosper because the House of Representatives is under the President’s control.
Also yesterday, activists criticized Roman Catholic bishops for failing to join their calls for Arroyo’s resignation, and planned another rally tomorrow to keep up the pressure on her.
After an emergency meeting that many had hoped would inject fresh energy into efforts to topple Arroyo, the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines merely urged the President to take the lead in combating graft.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye praised the bishops Tuesday for not “succumbing to the propaganda of rabid oppositionists.” (AP/Sunnex)
