Abalos, Neri formally charged before Sandiganbayan

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has filed graft charges with the Sandiganbayan against former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri in connection with the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal between the Arroyo administration and ZTE Corp. of China.

Special prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit said cases of violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act have been filed separately against Abalos and Neri.

Abalos has been accused of offering a bribe to Neri – who was then socioeconomic planning secretary – in exchange for his endorsement of the multi-million dollar NBN project. Neri later admitted at a Senate hearing that he had been offered the bribe but refused to divulge details of his conversation with President Arroyo regarding the bribe, citing “executive privilege.”

Sulit said the Sandiganbayan is expected to raffle off the cases on Friday.

Sulit said the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the prosecutorial arm of the Ombudsman, would discuss if there would be a need for the creation of a panel or team of government lawyers to handle the cases.

Sources said the Sandiganbayan might approve a motion to consolidate the cases.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier said documentary evidence and records against Neri and Abalos were enough to fill four steel filing cabinets.