The ‘thief in the night’ gets caught

Finally, Gloria Arroyo will be made accountable for the anomalous NBN/ZTE deal.

The Ombudsman yesterday charged Gloria Arroyo, her husband Mike Arroyo, and two other officials of her government – former Commission on Elections Benjamin Abalos and former Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019).
Arroyo was also accused of violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (R.A 6713).

All the three criminal information filed included Gloria Arroyo as accused. Mike Arroyo, Abalos and Mendoza are only in the first information.

The first information cited three reasons why the five accused violated the ant-graft and corrupt practices act when they entered into a contract for a national broadband network with the Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment International Investment Limited (ZTE) on April 21, 2007:

1. The actual cost of the ZTE proposal for the NBN project was only US$130 million but was finally pegged and overpriced at US$329 million.

2. ZTE’s NBN project covered only 30 percent of the country compared to the proposal of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. which would cover 80 percent of the country at a much lesser cost.

3. It was to be financed by a loan from the Eximbank of China, payment of which was to be guaranteed by the government of the Philippines, compared to the AHI proposal of implementing the project under the Build Operate and Transfer scheme which would actually entail no cost to the government of the Philippines.

The second information cited Arroyo’s knowledge of the irregularities and anomalies that attended the approval of the deal including the P200 million offer of Abalos to former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri yet, she approved the contract.

The third information accused her of violating R.A 6713 for accepting the invitation of ZTE for a round of golf and lunch in Shenzhen while a contract involving the host was being deliberated.

I remember the press release the April 21, 2007 of Malacañang when Arroyo left the bedside of her ailing husband in St Luke’s hospital and flew to Boao, China to witness the signing of the agreement for the Chinese jumbo loans including that for the NBN project.

The title was “So much investments, so little time for PGMA in China” and it aptly likened Arroyo to “a thief in the night.”

The press release enthused: “Nearly a billion dollars worth of new investments in 12 hours.

“That’s the way things looked like for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her brief stay in this picturesque coastal town Saturday as she ‘came and went like a thief in the night,’ bringing with her an avalanche of Chinese investments to the tune of $904.38 million.”

If your own propagandist called you a thief, what does that make of you?

The graft charges filed by the Ombudsman are bailable but since Arroyo is under detention for the unbailable crime of electoral sabotage, she still won’t be released even if she posted bail in these cases.

That’s a good one from Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

I understand the Ombudsman is preparing more charges against Arroyo. Possibly plunder.

What I want to see is for Gloria Arroyo to be charged for her cheating in the 2004 election. That’s her original sin against the Filipino people.

Related articles:
http://www.malaya.com.ph/dec30/news1.html
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/09/18/ops-gma-parang-magnanakaw-sa-gabi/

Information 1

Ombudsman’s case vs GMA over NBN-ZTE (SB11CRM0467)

Information 2

Ombudsman’s case vs GMA over NBN-ZTE (SB11CRM0468)

Information 3

Ombudsman’s case vs GMA over NBN-ZTE (SB11CRM0469)