Abalos camp to unmask own ZTE mystery man
One good mystery man deserves another.
The lawyer of Benjamin Abalos said a “mystery man” was behind a “grand conspiracy” to besmirch the reputation of the resigned elections chief and force the government to cancel the $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp. of
Gabriel Villareal, legal counsel of Abalos, said he has documents to prove that people “with vested interest” used the former poll chief in destroying the credibility of ZTE Corp.
“I came across some documents that will substantiate our suspicion that there is a grand conspiracy to destroy the reputation of Chairman Abalos so that the ZTE contract can be cancelled,” Villareal told The STAR.
He said the “mystery man” was behind the damning Senate testimonies of former socioeconomic planning chief Romulo Neri and businessman Jose de Venecia III, a son and namesake of the Speaker.
The younger De Venecia is co-founder and majority stockholder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. which lost to ZTE Corp. in the competition for the government broadband project.
Joey III said Abalos tried to bribe him with $10 million to make him withdraw his own broadband proposal.
He also accused First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo – who he earlier described as the “mystery man” behind the NBN deal – of shoving a finger in his face and ordering him to “back off” from the project. Neri for his part confirmed to senators that Abalos offered him P200 million in exchange for his endorsement of the ZTE contract.
“There is a mystery man behind Neri and Joey,” Villareal said. He declined to reveal the identity of the “mystery man” but said more people are likely involved in the alleged demolition job.
Asked if the so-called mystery man comes from the political sector or the business community, the lawyer said: “In our country, politics and business merged. All I can say is that their intention is to bag the NBN project.”
He said that in the “upgraded” libel and perjury cases he intends to file against Neri and Joey III, the identities of the alleged conspirators would be included.
“I’m just revising our complaint and hopefully, I can file this next week before the Mandaluyong court. This will be the platform for truth to come out, to know the relationship between these people. This will expose everything,” he added.
A column in The STAR spoke of a ranking poll official who brokered for ZTE and received cash and lavish gifts in
Rep. Carlos Padilla, in a privilege speech, said it was Abalos who was being alluded to by columnist Jarius Bondoc.
At Malacañang, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said there is no need for President Arroyo to accept the resignation of Abalos because it was done irrevocably.
Apostol explained that while Commissioner Resurreccion Borra is now the officer-in-charge at the Commission on Elections, Abalos may still finish his term until Feb. 1 because of accumulated leave credits.
For Presidential Political Adviser and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, the resignation of Abalos should be taken “at face value.”
“I think we have to take his statement for what it was: he said he resigned… I’m taking the announcement of Chairman Abalos at face value. He said he has resigned and I think we should respect his decision and statements on the matter,” said Puno.
“I don’t even know where Secretary Apostol drew his comment from,” Puno said. “Normally the procedure is when somebody resigns there is a terminal leave. I don’t know if that is the situation that he (Abalos) is in but I think that (in) his statement on the matter he declared himself resigned.”
Ombudsman case
But whether he is resigned or on “terminal leave” Abalos is not yet off the hook, according to Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico.
Suplico told a news forum in
He said his volunteer lawyers are studying whether the First Gentleman could be included in the case.
“We are also evaluating if he could be charged with conspiracy to commit graft,” he said.
He said he is filing a graft charge against Abalos “because I believe that based on testimonies given to the Senate, he has financial interest in the $329-million ZTE contract.”
He said the bribery charge would be based on the statements given to senators under oath by De Venecia III and Neri.
Suplico said he is not including Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza because the DOTC chief is already facing a graft charge before the Ombudsman.
It was Rep. Padilla who filed the case against
He said there is no basis to include in his case other individuals who were dragged into the controversy, like businessman Enrique Razon, Abalos’ chief of staff Jimmy Paz, Ruben Reyes, Leo San Miguel, and former police officer Quirino dela Torre.
“If future Senate hearings unearth their participation in the contract, we will study their inclusion in the case or the filing of separate charges against them,” Suplico said.
He also said he believes Abalos resigned as Comelec chief and is not on “terminal leave” as Apostol claims.
“He announced to the world on Monday that he was resigning effective that day. We have to take his word. Those who are giving it another interpretation are trying to tell the public that he is a liar or copying Malacañang’s trademark double talk,” he said.
He said based on Abalos’ announcement of his resignation, he would accept the plan of the House leadership to send the impeachment case he filed against the former Comelec chief to the archives.
But damning as they may seem, the Senate testimonies of Joey III and Neri still need “corroborative evidence” to stand in court, opposition Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada said.
A member of the so-called Reform Bloc, Tañada said more witnesses would be needed to support whatever charges Joey III or Neri might file against Abalos with the Ombudsman.
“There has to be corroborative evidence because this requires proof beyond reasonable doubt, the quantum of evidence required has increased, compared to an impeachment, where only the conscience of legislators is required,” Tañada told newsmen at the weekly Ayes and Nays forum at the Treehouse in Quezon City.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga of the administration bloc supported Tanada’s position. “He is right. In an impeachment complaint, the basis is just the conscience of the congressmen. But here, it will depend on the evidence that will be presented.”
House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora said Abalos could be held liable for violation of RA 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Employees, considering that the bribe was never consummated.
Zamora cited in particular Abalos’ own admission that he went to China several times during the election period when he should have been supervising the conduct of elections.
The Senate, meanwhile, has called off public hearings on the kickbacks allegations but will continue to investigate whether Mrs. Arroyo is involved.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Blue Ribbon committee chair, said the hearings were suspended until next month to allow senators to focus on gathering documents and other evidence.
“Not all investigations are done in front of the cameras,” Cayetano told reporters.
“We are going 100 percent full steam ahead with this inquiry. We’ll have to get to the bottom of this mess to find out whether President Arroyo and her husband had anything to do with the fat kickbacks in the broadband deal,” he said. - With Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla, and Reuters
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