GMA neglected to probe Abalos

Mikey Arroyo is so like his parents. Dodging reports on his undisclosed $1.3-million house in America, he at first employed the peanut-butter defense. “Everybody lists real estate holdings under corporations (in Statements of Assets and Liabilities),” he tried spreading the blame around. Then he obfuscated. “We can well afford to buy property in the US.” But the question remains: why didn’t he declare it in his SALN?

Since he claims to have enough wealth from wedding gifts and campaign contributions, why doesn’t he list these too? If he doesn’t, then the ballooning of his assets from P5 million in 2001 to P100 million today can only be the fruit of crime. Indeed, he’s so much like Gloria and Mike.

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In no uncertain terms Romy Neri testified at the Senate that Ben Abalos offered him P200 million to endorse the ZTE project as NEDA chief. Too he swore he told Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the indecent proposal. Instead of expressing outrage, all Arroyo supposedly did was counsel him to decline the bribe but secure the NEDA approval just the same. This is recounted in the Ombudsman Joint Resolution of 21 Apr. 2009 on the ZTE scam (pages 22 and 32). And it is another reason why the agency should have included Arroyo in the charge sheet — but didn’t.

The Constitution requires Arroyo and she swore to execute faithfully all laws (Art. VII, Sec. 5 and 17). “All” includes the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Revised Penal Code. Arroyo was duty-bound to report and prosecute Abalos. This failure to cause Abalos’s arrest and indictment is punishable under the Code. Art. 211-A states: “Qualified Bribery - If any public officer is entrusted with law enforcement and he refrains from arresting or prosecuting an offender who has committed a crime punishable by reclusion perpetua and/or death in consideration of any offer, promise, gift, or present, he shall suffer the penalty for the offense which was not prosecuted.” The failure to go after a bribe offeror is also a betrayal of public trust.

Arroyo’s inaction speaks volumes. She already knew that a P200-million bribe had been offered to Neri — not to mention the $10 million to Joey de Venecia. She thus should have deduced that the bribe would be tacked onto the ZTE contract price. Meaning, the project would have been overpriced. And yet Arroyo demanded NEDA approval just the same for a deal she knew to be disadvantageous.

The DOTC estimated the project to cost $329 million (Joint Resolution, page 14). The NEDA Board, however, approved the project at $343 million (Joint Resolution, page 15). What was the $14-million difference for? Was it to cover the $10 million for Joey, and P200 million or $4 million for Neri? Arroyo is chairman of the NEDA Board, and also witnessed the signing of the ZTE contract in China. Surely she knew of the different figures; her aides gush that she has the memory of an elephant.

There’s more. Based on the original specs, the project was to cost $262 million (Joint Resolution, page 29). The final price of $329 million was $67 million, or P3 billion, more. Why did Arroyo insist on NEDA approval despite the knowledge that the price would have been jacked up? The answer can only lie in what Neri told me, which I wrote in The STAR, swore by in the Senate, and remains undisputed: “Brinaso ako ni Presidente.”

Imagine, at least three billion reasons, and the Ombudsman did not bother to get to the truth.

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Geologist Manuel Diaz shows that Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez’s $22.7-million 10-MW power plant is overpriced: “Check out this quotation on the Internet: Biomass Generating Plant 60hz 12.5 MW $1.85 Million Bill Lax; call 559-665-5791 (www.utilitywarehouse.com/info1/PWEBINFO.HTML). And this: 20 MW Woodburning Power Plant Complete Plant with Extra Equipment $1.7 Million or $2.6 Million FOB site (www.utilitywarehouse.com/info1/WOOD20M.HTML).”

From the heirs of Jose Sy Bang: “Suarez has admitted paying $15,000 (P750,000) for the First Couple’s wedding anniversary party in Washington. But he has not paid our family the P9.3 million that the Court of Appeals ordered him to since 2003.”

Atty. Sonny Pulgar: “Suarez took out two full-page newspaper ads of condolence, worth P400,000. But he has yet to pay P650,000 overdue rent to DBP, from which he is borrowing P1 billion for a power plant.”

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The 10th Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance will be held on Sept. 9-10, 2009. Weber Shandwick Worldwide oversees the project of the Japanese government, World Bank, Philippine Stock Exchange, Institute of Corporate Directors, and Asian Development Bank.

Speakers include: Finance Sec. Margarito Teves; Mr. Pier Carlo Padoan, deputy secretary general, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Ms. Selvarany Rasiah, chief regulatory officer, Bursa Malaysia Bhd; Dr. Marcello Bianchi, head of regulation impact analysis, Commissione Nazionale per le Sociata e la Borsa; Mr. Grant Kirkpatrick, senior economist, OECD; Ms. Fianna Jesover, senior policy analyst, OECD; Mr. Kenji Hoki, outreach advisor, OECD; Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, director for governance, finance and trade, ADB; and Mr. Jonathan Juan Moreno, vice president for corporate governance, PSE.

Moderator: Atty. Mike Toledo, president-CEO, Weber Shandwick Worldwide. Venue: Manila Peninsula Hotel.

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“When you give away something to others, you lose nothing, but someone got something.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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