Zaldy bares Arroyo graft
Zaldy Ampatuan unloaded another bombshell on Wednesday against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, this time accusing her of receiving some P200 million in kickbacks from road projects in Mindanao during her administration.
The allegation is contained in three unsigned affidavits that the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) released to the Inquirer.
On Tuesday, a set of unsigned documents also was given to the Inquirer, purporting to show that Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, engineered in Maguindanao the rigging of the 2007 senatorial election to benefit Sen. Miguel Zubiri.
Zaldy is offering to become a state witness and testify against his father, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his brother Andal Jr. in the 2009 massacre of 58 people in the province.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has turned down Zaldy’s offering, saying that she is convinced that the former ARMM governor was a principal conspirator in the worst incident of political violence in the nation’s history.
Raul Lambino, an Arroyo lawyer, said Zaldy’s exposés were “choreographed” as a “main bargaining chip” to get President Aquino to give him a chance to escape “an absolutely certain guilty verdict” on the massacre.
“Governor Zaldy is haggling to be charged with a lesser offense so he could be eligible for executive clemency from President Aquino,” Lambino said.
De Lima told reporters that the President had directed a Cabinet inquiry into Zaldy’s allegations of corruption and election sabotage.
She also dismissed suggestions that the Aquino administration was considering entering into a deal with the former ARMM governor to pin down Arroyo.
“There is no such thing,” she said, “or indication that there would be a bargain. I’ve been consistent about this massacre case. I don’t think this could be sacrificed for anything.”
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also said the Palace was supporting the prosecution of the accused in the massacre. He said that Aquino “personally feels for the victims.”
Pangandaman
In the draft affidavits, Zaldy alleged that former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman collected the P200 million in kickbacks in three farm-to-market road projects in Central Mindanao for remittance to then President Arroyo.
Zaldy added that Andal Sr. could also testify in the case as an “adverse” witness and that he also had hotel and CCTV records to prove his case.
“Pangandaman assured me that the 20 percen,t or P20 million, will be delivered to (Arroyo),” Zaldy said as he described one of the projects.
Pangandaman was not immediately available to comment on the allegations.
The draft affidavits, which show Zaldy applying for the government’s witness protection program, have been submitted to the Department of Justice for review, said a source who showed copies of the documents to reporters.
The source declined to be identified as she was not authorized to speak on the matter.
Zaldy said the three projects—one involving Maguindanao province and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); and two involving the DAR and the Department of Public Works and Highways-ARMM—were worth a total of P500 million.
Arroyo allegedly asked for a 30-percent “share” in one project and 20 percent for each of the remaining two. On two occasions, the kickbacks were allegedly collected by Pangandaman at the Century Park Hotel, according to the documents.
Evidence
Zaldy said he had affidavits of witnesses, hotel and CCTV records, and government records. He also listed DPWH-ARMM Secretary Rasul Abpi as among the possible witnesses in the case.
The first project where Ms. Arroyo allegedly demanded a “20-percent share” involved DPWH-ARMM and the DAR building farm-to-market roads for P100 million in 2008.
Zaldy said that Pangandaman had assured him that the 20 percent, or P20 million, would be delivered to Arroyo. He said the amount was delivered by DPWH-ARMM Secretary Rasul Abpi to Pangandaman’s house.
“I could not exactly remember when it was delivered but it could be about three days from the encashment of checks,” Zaldy said.
He said that in a P500-million farm-to-market road project of the DAR and the provincial government between May and July 2009 in Maguindanao he had learned from his father that Arroyo through Pangandaman had demanded a 30-percent cut, or P150 million.
Cash delivery
Zaldy said he was with his father when the money was delivered to Pangandaman at the Century Park Hotel.
“I entered Room 726 or Room 526 and I saw (Andal Sr.), Pangandaman and… a bag. I asked about its contents and he said it was the sum of (the kickback) and Secretary Pangandaman was there to get the money,” Zaldy said.
That same year, he said the DAR and DPWH-ARMM were also to build farm-to market roads worth P150 million (P100 million in Shariff Aguak and P50 million in Datu Unsay township).
Zaldy claimed that Arroyo, again through Pangandaman, allegedly asked for a “20-percent share or P30 million.”
“I could not refuse the 20-percent demand since the order, as Pangandaman said, came from (Arroyo),” Zaldy said.
“Every time the checks were encashed, the 20 percent demanded by (Arroyo) was delivered in cash to Pangandaman (for) President Arroyo,” he said.
‘It’s drama’
Nena Santos, a private prosecutor in the massacre case, said Zaldy was going on the offensive against the Arroyos because the Court of Appeals had extended its freeze order on all the assets of the Ampatuans, which she said runs to “billions of pesos.”
She said the plunder case filed against the Ampatuans also implicated the wives of the accused.
“That is why we have these statements by Zaldy. He’s saying, ‘I will admit to it but spare our wives and the others. Don’t involve them,’” Santos said. ‘He’s crying out because the women were included in the plunder case.”
She said the defense in the massacre case also wanted to “muddle the case” with Zaldy’s offer to turn state witness, noting that there had been no reaction so far from Andal Sr to the report.
“What does this mean? It’s drama,” she said. “He’s a desperate person testing the waters to see what cases can he be absolved… And in the Muslim tradition, going against your father is a big no-no. You’d rather die. But go against the father? Never.”
She said Malacañang called her on Wednesday to assure the prosecution that there was “no deal” between the Ampatuans and the Palace.—With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Marlon Ramos and Norman Bordadora
