Ombudsman decides to wait for SC ruling on NBN

MANILA, Philippines – The burden to speed up the resolution of criminal complaints related to the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with Chinese ZTE Corp. has turned to the Supreme Court.

This, after the Office of the Ombudsman decided to wait for the ruling of the High Tribunal on the petition of lawyer Harry Roque questioning its decision not to summon President Arroyo in its preliminary investigation before deciding on the fate of the seven consolidated complaints where she and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo were among the respondents.

Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael, member of the special panel of the Ombudsman investigating the NBN-related complaints, said such a decision from the SC is necessary before they could decide on whether or not the case would be forwarded to the Sandiganbayan and have the respondents formally charged before the anti-graft court.

“We haven’t received yet any formal communication from the Supreme Court regarding the motion for reconsideration filed by Atty. Roque. We have to wait for the decision because it affects all other complaints,” he explained.

Roque, who represented the complaint of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona in the preliminary investigation of the Ombudsman, brought a petition to the Supreme Court questioning the immunity of the President from investigation after the probe panel decided earlier this year not to summon Mrs. Arroyo on the criminal charges filed against her by Guingona.

The Supreme Court had denied the pleading of Roque and upheld the constitutional immunity from criminal suit of the President, but the lawyer still sought reconsideration of this decision.

Micael said the panel opted to await the final ruling of the SC on the petition of Roque before submitting the NBN-related complaints for resolution.

The Ombudsman earlier vowed to resolve before yearend all seven NBN-related complaints.

The panel composed of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro as chairman; and Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III, Deputy Special Prosecutor Robert Kallos, Assistant Ombudsman Rodolfo Elman and Dir.

Caesar Asuncion as members will decide if there is probable cause in the NBN complaints that would lead to the filing of criminal charges against the respondents before the Sandiganbayan.

The Ombudsman started its investigation of criminal complaints in connection with the NBN controversy last February.

Late last year, President Arroyo scrapped the NBN contract she had signed after the Senate started its inquiry into the alleged overpricing and bribery that accompanied the deal.

Resigned Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos and her husband, Jose Miguel, were implicated in the deal. He was accused in six of the seven graft cases while Mr. Arroyo is in four of them.

The seven complaints in relation to the NBN scandal were: 

 • Case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation against Emmanuel Ang, the commercial attaché who supposedly lost the NBN contract the night after it was signed in Boao, China, on April 21, 2007.

• A criminal complaint lodged in August 2007 by Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla against Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and two assistant secretaries for “giving undue advantage” to ZTE. Executives of the Chinese firm were also named respondents.

• A request by lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. on Sept. 24, 2007 for the Ombudsman to investigate the President’s husband and Abalos on their alleged links to the deal. Francisco’s complaint was the first to directly name the President’s husband in the controversy.

• A graft complaint filed Oct. 8, 2007 by lawyer Ruel Pulido against then Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and his son Jose III, the businessman who was the original whistleblower on the alleged anomalies in the NBN deal.

• A graft complaint filed the following day by Akbayan party-list Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, this time against Abalos, for allegedly brokering the deal and bribing a Cabinet official and a businessman to ensure that the project would push through.

• The criminal complaint filed by Guingona and other quarters against Arroyo, describing the doctrine of presidential immunity as an “old, archaic” rule that applied to the kings of the past.

• A complaint filed Feb. 8 by Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption party-list Representative Joel Villanueva against the First Gentleman and Abalos.