MANILA, 27 September 2007 — Former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri yesterday confirmed news reports that Commission on Elections chief Benjamin Abalos offered him bribe in exchange for his approval of an allegedly overpriced telecom deal between the government and the Chinese company ZTE.
Testifying before a Senate hearing on alleged corruption and irregularities surrounding the $330 million deal, Neri said Abalos offered him 200 million pesos (about $4.4 million) to approve the Chinese bid for National Broadband Network project.
Neri said he was shocked by Abalos’ bribe offer, which he said took place at the Wack-Wack Golf Club in suburban Mandaluyong early this year.
Neri, currently the commissioner for higher education, said he called President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to report Abalos’ bribe offer, and that the president told him to reject it.
“I said, `Chairman Abalos offered me 200 million for this.’ She told me, ‘Don’t accept it.’”
“I am not used to being offered bribes. It was such a big amount,” said Neri, a former professor who was removed fgrom his post as head of the National Economic Development Authority or NEDA and named chairman of the Commission on Higher Education in August.
Asked by senators if he had discussed the project further with Arroyo, Neri invoked executive privilege, saying he could not divulge his conversations with the president.
Abalos, who was seated next to Neri in the tension-charged hearing, said his accused was lying under oath. “It was only his assumption that it was 200 million,” he said.
He said he had no reason to offer a bribe to Neri because the NEDA only approves the project, but not who the contractor should be.
Abalos also vehemently denied the allegations of Jose de Venecia III, founder of the losing Philippine bidder for the project, Amsterdam Holdings Inc., that the poll chief offered him $10 million to withdraw his proposal.
Testifying at the first day of the Senate hearings last week, the son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, also implicated the president’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, saying he had told de Venecia to “back off” from the bidding.
A lawyer for Mike Arroyo, Jesus Santos, said Arroyo had only reminded de Venecia that as a relative of a government official he should not get involved in government transactions.
Abalos said he had not heard of any such incident with Mike Arroyo, which supposedly took place in his presence.
Abalos said it was de Venecia who was pursuing him in mid-December last year, at a time when the Chinese company had already been designated as contractor by the Chinese government. Abalos said de Venecia sought his help to establish contact with the Chinese company so that de Venecia could be become a partner.
Cause for Concern
The latest scandal to hit the administration has caused concern among investors and posed a fresh challenge to Arroyo, who has survived two coup attempts and two impeachment bids on allegations of corruption and cheating in the 2004 elections.
Neri’s testimony, however, has not cleared Arroyo, whose series of actions since the kickback allegations first surfaced were considered by her critics as an attempt at coverup.
Initially, Malacañang Palace banned Cabinet officials from participating in the House of Representatives and Senate inquiry.
But when De Venecia testified and implicated the president’s husband, Arroyo sent all her Cabinet members to attend the hearings.
In an apparent afterthought, she ordered the deal suspended, even though the Supreme Court had already did that, pending a resolution of separate petitions by de Venecia and a provincial vice governor questioning the legality of the contract.
Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. has expressed disappointment over the suspension but has denied any irregularities.
Arroyo also ordered Neri to join her in a trip to the United Nations this week, relenting only when Senators accused her of trying to keep the official away from the hearings.
Arroyo later said she had ordered a discreet investigation and found allegations of bribery and overpricing unsubstantiated.
‘Inventing Corruption’
In a sidelight to yesterday’s hearing, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago publicly berated China over the allegedly overpriced broadband project, accusing it of “inventing corruption.”
“China invented civilization in the East, but as well it invented corruption for all of human civilization,” said Santiago, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“These Chinese are fond of making invitations to golf, to dinner, giving free tickets to China,” Santiago said. “We all understand that when we are public officials we are not invited because of our physical or sexual good looks, we are being invited because of a certain government project.”
In previous media interviews, Abalos said ZTE officials were his “golfing buddies” and paid for his trips to China.
Santiago, who is known for her mercurial temper, also admonished Abalos, Neri and Joey de Venecia of “just fighting over your kickbacks.”
Santiago is a close ally of President Arroyo, who witnessed the signing of the deal during a visit to Beijing in April.
Arroyo has hailed deepening ties between the Philippines and China, and is scheduled to visit Beijing again next month. ( With input from Agencies)
