Arroyos face plunder charge over 2007 NBN-ZTE deal

(Updated 5:19 p.m.) Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo were charged with plunder before the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday, this time for the botched national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp. that the Philippine government entered into during the Arroyo administration. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, Bayan chairperson Carol Araullo, and former Gabriela women’s party-list Rep. Lisa Maza filed the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman at past 11 a.m. Casiño noted that although the deal was canceled, the Arroyo couple and two other officials still received the bribes, based on testimonies of witnesses in past congressional inquiries on the controversy. “Totoong na-cancel ‘yung project, pero ‘yung P1.4 billion kasi, binayad ‘yan para mapirmahan ang kontrata, Mismong si Mrs. Arroyo ay nagpunta sa China para i-witness niya ang signing dahil ito ay yung condition ng China," he said. For her part, Maza said: “Sa pagpa-file ng kaso na ito sa Ombudsman, gusto namin ipahiwatig na hindi makaliligtas si Arroyo dito sa kaso ng NBN ZTE." The case, which was personally received by new Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, also accused Arroyo, her husband Mike, and former Transportation and Communications chief Leandro Mendoza of graft and corruption and unethical conduct among public officials. Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Benjamin Abalos Sr., was also named among the respondents. This is the sixth plunder complaint against Mrs. Arroyo since she left the presidency in June 2010. It is also the second time the former president was slapped with plunder raps under Carpio-Morales. The case, meanwhile, is the second plunder complaint filed this month against the Former First Gentleman before the Office of the Ombudsman. The first one was filed last Friday in connection with the supposedly anomalous purchase of Philippine National Police choppers in 2009. Persecution The complainants accused Mrs. Arroyo, her husband and the two other former government officials of pocketing bribes amounting to P1.4 billion from the Chinese firm. But lawyer Raul Lambino, Mrs. Arroyo's legal spokesperson, dismissed the plunder complaint as another act of "persecution" towards the former President, insisting that his client never benefited from the deal. "The NBN-ZTE contract was canceled and there was no damage incurred by government in that aborted transaction," Lambino said in a text message. He added that the filing of the complaint was "another [act of] political grandstanding" by certain groups "to advance their respective agenda" using the media. Later in the afternoon, Mr. Arroyo issued a statement saying the plunder complaint against him and his wife should be dropped since they have been cleared of involvement in the allegedly anomalous deal two years ago by the Office of the Ombudsman. Cases vs Arroyo Casiño and fellow Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares also filed a graft case against Mrs. Arroyo at the Department of Justice for the NBN-ZTE deal in July last year — immediately after the former President stepped down from the country’s top post and lost her immunity from suit. The case was transferred to the Truth Commission, which was later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This prompted the lawmakers to withdraw the graft case, which Casiño and the two other complainants upgraded to the current plunder case. Last month, the Department of Justice placed Mrs. Arroyo under the Bureau of Immigration's watch list on the basis that the former Philippine leader has three pending plunder complaints before the DOJ. The watch list order against Mrs. Arroyo is effective for 60 days. The three plunder cases against the former President currently pending before the DOJ include accusations of:

• anomalous sale of an airport property in Iloilo;
• misuse of funds for overseas Filipino workers; and
• diversion of fertilizer funds to her campaign kitty in 2004.

Two other separate plunder complaints were also previously filed against Mrs. Arroyo in relation to alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds. At present, Mrs. Arroyo is recovering from a third surgery she underwent because of a pinched nerve in her spine. National broadband controversy The Philippine National Broadband Network controversy (also known as the NBN/ZTE deal) involved allegations of corruption in the awarding of a US$329 million construction contract to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE for the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN). [See full timeline here.] Among the high-profile personalities linked to the supposed anomaly were Abalos Sr., who resigned at the height of the controversy; then-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Romulo Neri; and former First Gentleman. The contract with ZTE was signed on April 20, 2007 in Hainan, China. After accusations of irregularities surfaced, Mrs. Arroyo cancelled the National Broadband Network (NBN) project in October 2007. Among the high-profile personalities linked to the supposed anomaly were then-Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., who resigned at the height of the controversy; then-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Romulo Neri; and Mrs. Arroyo’s husband, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo. On July 14, 2008, the Supreme Court dismissed all three petitions questioning the constitutionality of the national broadband deal, saying the petitions became moot when Mrs. Arroyo cancelled the project. On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III said he will not allow the revival of the controversial multi-million-dollar deal under his administration. He said his government will instead tap existing Internet connections in the country for a national broadband network project. — RSJ/LBG, GMA News