GMA, Mike A rapped in ZTE report


Even whistleblowers don’t escape Gordon fire
BY JP LOPEZ

PRESIDENT Arroyo committed an impeachable offense, that of culpable violation of the Constitution, when she did not stop the corruption that attended the negotiations for the overpriced $329 million national broadband network project with the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee said in its draft report.

"There’s a culpable violation of the Constitution. Why did she not stop these people from committing crimes?" committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon said in a press conference.

Gordon routed the 127-page report among senators yesterday.

The committee started its investigation in September 2007. It has conducted 13 hearings and four technical working group hearings since then.

Aside from Gordon, four other senators signed the report as of last night. They were minority leader Aquilino Pimentel, Senators Edgardo Angara, Gregorio Honasan and Joker Arroyo.

Recommended charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were Jose Miguel Arroyo, Benjamin Abalos, Jose de Venecia Jr, Romulo Neri, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and transportation assistant secretaries Lorenzo Formoso and Elmer Soneja.

The report also recommended the filing of charges against whistleblowers Joey de Venecia III and Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

Gordon said that except for the President, they should all be charged with violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Executive Deputy Secretary Manuel Gaite should also be charged with violation of Section 150 of the Revised Penal Code or disobedience to summons issued by the national assembly for restraining Lozada from attending the hearing.

Gordon said the President "has lots of explaining to do."

He cited Article VII, Section 5 of the Constitution which provides that the President should "preserve, and defend its Constitution, execute its laws, and do justice to every man."

Article VII, Section 17 of the Constitution also provides that "The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed."

"Her acts in this case reveal that her performance of presidential duty has been wanting," Gordon said in the report.

He also said Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez is wrong in dismissing the case against the President Arroyo on the ground that she is immune from suits.

"It is the duty of the Ombudsman to investigate impeachable officers," he said.

He said what Gutierrez should have done was investigate the allegations and if probable cause was found, refer the case to the House of Representatives.

Gordon said the Ombudsman should not have made a blanket statement of immunity.

The government officials involved were likewise accused of violating R.A. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard for Public Officials.

The committee report was in contrast to the recommendation of the Office of the Ombudsman last August, which dismissed the complaint against the First Gentleman for lack of probable cause and dropped President Arroyo as respondent due her immunity.

Gordon cited the presence of Mike Arroyo in a game of golf with ZTE officials in Shenzen, China, in November 2006 where the President and Speaker De Venecia were also present.

In March 2007, Joey de Venecia told the committee that Mr. Arroyo told him to "back off" from the broadband project at a "conciliatory meeting" at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club hosted by Abalos.

Neri testified that Abalos tried to bribe him with P200 million to approve the deal with ZTE.

Joey de Venecia also claimed that Abalos offered him a $10 million bribe during the Wack-Wack meeting.

The report also said the former Speaker intervened in at least three instances in the NBN project.

Gordon said the two "whistleblowers" actively participated in the project, with Joey de Venecia crying foul only when his firm, Amsterdam Holdings Inc., lost in the bidding.

He said Lozada could be tapped as a state witness and could not be called a whistleblower. He however, recognized the contribution of Lozada in the investigation of the anomaly.

Senators, upon learning the inclusion of Lozada and Joey de Venecia in the recommendation to be indicted, said they would not support the report.

Alan Peter Cayetano, former Blue Ribbon chair, has said there is a probability that his colleagues from the minority, might come up with a "minority report," a dissenting report, if they were not satisfied with the findings and recommendations of the Gordon panel.

NOT TRUE

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said there was no truth that the President did not act on Neri’s report about Abalos’ bribe attempt.

Remonde said the President ordered Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to investigate through the PNP.

He said Puno said the PNP promptly conducted an investigation but the result was inconclusive.

Remonde said Puno told the President that there was no basis to file charges against anybody at that time.

Gordon agreed to release the final report on the NBN-ZTE- deal on the prodding of Joey de Venecia.

For the young De Venecia, the release of the report is the culmination of a two-year odyssey to ferret out the truth about the project.

"It really doesn’t matter if Senator Gordon has prejudged me by saying I was guilty even after the Ombudsman cleared me," he said, "What’s more important is that the committee report be released for the people to judge for themselves if its findings are valid." – With Regina Bengco

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