New witness confirms bribery in ZTE

The direct involvement of Gloria and Mike Arroyo in the anomalous NBN-ZTE project is further being unravelled as the probe on the graft-ridden contract continues.

On February 26, a new witness named Dante Madriaga, former consultant to ZTE, testified before the Senate that it was the Filipino partners of ZTE led by former COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos who received bribes from the Chinese corporation and facilitated kickbacks for the Arroyo couple. One of the Filipino partners, Leo San Miguel, recruited Madriaga for the project.

San Miguel allegedly disclosed to Madriaga that the payoffs to the government officials were released in three tranches. The first, he stated, was $1 million given in August 2006 when negotiations for the contract began. The second tranche was $10 million after NEDA approved the contract in March 2007, half of which went to the Arroyo couple. The third installment was $30 million which was released soon after Gloria Arroyo witnessed the signing of the contract in Boao, China in April 2007. This amount was used to fund the Arroyo coalition's electoral campaign in 2007.

Because of huge kickbacks, the contract ballooned with more than $170 million allotted to bribery.

Madriaga also said that former Malacañang chief of staff Mike Defensor was also involved in the project, and his role was to protect and secure the Arroyo couple's share during the NBN-ZTE transactions.

Still another witness, who according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson has "direct information regarding the flow of money from ZTE", is expected to corroborate Madriaga's testimony.

Meanwhile, the Senate has rejected the Supreme Court's ruling on former NEDA chief Romulo Neri's appearance before the Senate. Neri, who was among the first to blow the whistle regarding the involvement of the president's husband in the anomalous deal invoked "executive privilege" to stop the Senate from forcing him to reveal his discussions with Gloria Arroyo on the now-scuttled ZTE deal. He earlier filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to define the parameters of "executive privilege," a provision that bans government officials from from $50 million to a whopping $329 milli on, disclosing conversations with the president.

In a compromise agreement proposed by the Supreme Court on March 4, Neri would be obliged to appear before Senate inquiries but the senators will be probihited from asking the following questions: 1) did the president follow up on the contract; 2) did Arroyo order Neri to proceed with the project even after he had reported about the bribery attempt; and 3) did Arroyo order NEDA to give priority to the ZTE contract.

Both the senators and legal experts said the privilege could not be used to cover up criminal acts, and that it was not proper to limit the scope of questions that the senators may ask witnesses.

Meanwhile, Malacañang recently scrapped Executive Order (EO) 464 as a result of mounting criticisms on the controversial provision. Arroyo was forced to nullify Memorandum Order (MO) 108 as well, which contains illegal provisions the Supreme Court discarded in 2007. Both EO 464 and MC 108 impose restrictions on the attendance of members of the executive branch in congressional and senate investigations. Despite the Palace move, however, the regime continues to evade hearings, prohibit government officials from testifying and weave a web of lies.




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