Sandigan asked to junk Arroyo argument vs NBN-ZTE trial

Ombudsman prosecutors on Wednesday asked the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division to junk former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “absurd” and “desperate” arguments challenging the court’s jurisdiction over her graft case.   The case involved the $329 million national broadband network deal the Arroyo administration reached — and later canceled — with China’s ZTE Corp. in 2007. It was one of the biggest controversies that rocked Arroyo’s nine-year rule.   The prosecutors were referring to Arroyo’s argument that the Sandiganbayan cannot hold trial over the case since the signing of the contract took place in Boao, China. They said the place where the contract was signed is immaterial and irrelevant because all the necessary elements constituting the offense happened in the Philippines.   It noted that Section 3 (i) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law (RA 3019) only required that the accused be a public officer holding a position in an agency that can approve or deny a transaction and that said public officer has shown unlawful interest with intent for personal gain.   “In the instant case, all the foregoing elements are present as accused Ma. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was then the chairperson of the National Economic Development Authority became interested in the approval of the (NBN) project as proposed by (ZTE) despite her knowledge of the irregularities and anomalies that attended its approval,” the prosecution panel said.   Accused along with Arroyo were her husband, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, and former Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza.   Prosecutors said the alleged offer of a P200-million bribe by Abalos to former NEDA director general Romulo Neri, the lack of public bidding, and the fast-tracking of the approval of ZTE’s proposal all took place in the country.   “If we subscribe to the movant’s argument, no one will be held liable for violation of Sec. 3(i) of RA 3019 as the law can easily be circumvented. What the offenders only need to do is to enter into transactions of contracts outside the country to escape liability,” the Ombudsman prosecutors said. — KBK, GMA News