Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Gloria ‘bribed’ solons, guvnors in 2007
MANILA - A former ally of President Arroyo who now backs the oppo-sition’s tenacious attempts to oust her claimed yesterday that lawmakers were bribed to block last year’s impeachment bid.
Former House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia made his comments before a congressional committee considering an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo for alleged corruption, abuse of power and constitutional violations.
Although the impeachment is widely expected to be shot down - just like three others in recent years - de Venecia’s tirade could add to political tensions involving economic difficulties, fresh coup rumors and the dominant Roman Catholic Church’s criticism of Arroyo’s administration on issues including corruption.
Loyalty
De Venecia told the nationally televised hearing that more than 100 lawmakers received P500,000 each during a meeting Arroyo called at the presidential palace last year to secure their loyalty as the opposition was preparing an impeachment complaint.
De Venecia said he did not attend the meeting but that Arroyo’s aides later brought a bag containing the money to his office. He said he was willing to turn it over as evidence to the House committee.
Arroyo treated the lawmakers like they were “commodities for sale,” de Venecia said, adding the president spent a fortune in “payolas and bribe money.”
Presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Arroyo has never bribed an official.
The constitution allows for only one impeachment proceeding a year, and de Venecia said the president asked him to endorse a weak impeachment bid last year in the hope of preventing the introduction of a stronger one being prepared by the opposition.
“She asked me three or four times and I answered three or four times I will not,” he said. Arroyo’s dominant allies in the House eventually threw out the complaint and later voted to remove de Venecia.
“We recognize the congressman’s sour-graping,” Golez said. “We can see that he is still hurting over his ouster as House speaker.”
Arroyo has survived four coup attempts and three impeachment bids since she came to power in 2001.
In yesterday’s hearing, de Venecia also tried to clear himself from allegations he brokered the NorthRail project. He blamed Arroyo for the project’s failure and its ballooning cost.
De Venecia also reiterated the President’s personal participation in the NBN-ZTE deal, noting that on Nov. 1, 2007, she called him in Hong Kong to invite him to a golf game the next day.
Picture
He said the President did not tell him that the game would be held at the ZTE headquarters in Shenzen, China with First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo and then elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., who was with some ZTE executives.
“Tell me, what is the President of the Philippines doing there at the ZTE headquarters? What is the husband of the President doing there at the headquarters of the ZTE?
A company that is bidding for a big project in the Philippines,” he said.
De Venecia said a picture of the meeting and the full story is contained in his biography “Global Filipino” written by Wall Street editor Bret Decker.
“Mike Arroyo said yesterday (Sunday) that I’m lying; let me say to you, my colleagues in the House of Representatives, that pictures do not lie,” he said. (AP/Sunnex)
