Another case filed to disqualify GMA

President Arroyo is facing a new disqualification case, this time filed by a group of lawyers accusing her of vote-buying and using public funds for her election campaign.

Lawyers Agripino Baybay and Patrick Velez, of the group Pro-Con, charged that Mrs. Arroyo was illegally using government resources to help boost her bid for a fresh term in the May 10 polls.

They said Mrs. Arroyo was virtually buying votes by distributing Philhealth medical insurance cards bearing her photograph during campaign sorties.

Their complaint stemmed from affidavits submitted by Francisco Duque, Philhealth president, and Ma. Livia de Leon, general manager of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Pro-Con earlier filed an electioneering complaint against Duque and De Leon, who stated in their affidavits that they merely obeyed a presidential directive setting up a medical insurance project.

The project will reportedly cost the government P3 billion to cover five million families. The amount covers the premium for one year, but Pro-Con said the continuation of the project depended on Mrs. Arroyo’s election to a fresh term.

"With this revelation of Duque and De Leon, all the election-related offenses being imputed to them clearly establish Arroyo herself as at the forefront of the violations of the Omnibus Election Code," Pro-Con said in a statement.

Mrs. Arroyo is already facing a disqualification petition also from the same group, accusing her of exceeding limits on television and radio campaign advertisements.

The Comelec will hold its first hearing on the first disqualification petition today.

Mrs. Arroyo is also facing a complaint before the Supreme Court and a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Malacañang dismissed the legal complaints filed against Mrs. Arroyo as baseless "nuisance suits" meant only to derail her bid for a full six-year term in the May election.

Mrs. Arroyo last Tuesday was accused of graft by a senatorial candidate in connection with the government’s compromise settlement with water utility Maynilad Water Services Inc.

Mrs. Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives, Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Isidoro Real and Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco branded the latest complaint, filed by lawyer Melanio Mauricio, as a "cheap publicity stunt" to boost his popularity.

Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the administration was not surprised by complaints.

"We know that this is the political season," Bunye said. "We anticipate these flurry of suits but we believe these are all nuisance suits and the President will not be distracted from what she is supposed to do."

Earlier, senatorial candidates Amina Rasul-Bernardo and Boots Anson-Roa, of the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to compel Mrs. Arroyo to go on leave while she is on the campaign trail.

They accuse Mrs. Arroyo of using government resources in her campaign, citing the distribution of Philhealth cards. That gave her undue advantage in the May contest, they said.

Mauricio, meanwhile, is running under the banner of the Alyansa ng Pag-asa of presidential aspirant Raul Roco.

Bunye said the suits filed by Bernardo, Roa and Mauricio were only meant to boost their senatorial bids.

"We just thought that it was quite a coincidence that the last two suits were filed by those who are not doing very well (in opinion polls)," Bunye said.

"These laggards have no resort but to file cases against the President to grab media mileage. But the cases will boomerang on their hopeless candidacies once the courts dismiss them for lack of merit," Real said.

Mrs. Arroyo was not even involved in the Maynilad settlement, Real said, adding that the agreement is still subject to approval by the court and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under a settlement reached last week with government regulator Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Maynilad will return its concession to the government, which will take over the supply of water to half of Metro Manila.

Benpres Holdings Corp., Maynilad’s parent company, will write off its $80-million investment in Maynilad. In addition, the MWSS will get $50 million in cash up front from Maynilad and paid $5.5 million a month in concession fees for the next 12 months.

The KNP charges that Mrs. Arroyo struck a deal with the powerful Lopez business clan to help her win a fresh term in the May polls in exchange for business favors.

Lopez businesses have been on the wrong end of regulators’ rulings.

The Lopez clan heads a multibillion-peso business empire that includes Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s top power distributor, and ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., the nation’s largest broadcast network.

They also have interests in telecommunications, construction, property, and technology.

Meralco, a Benpres unit, was slapped in the 1990s by the Energy Regulatory Board (the predecessor of the Energy Regulatory Commission) with a P30-billion customer refund order for alleged overbilling. — Jose Aravilla, Marichu Villanueva