Abalos invited Arroyos to golf in Shenzhen--lawyer
But event was ‘unplanned social function’
By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:30:00 05/14/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. invited the First Couple to play golf in Shenzhen, China, in late 2006, but it was an “unplanned social function” and had nothing to do with the controversial national broadband network (NBN) deal, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Quoting Abalos, who he said is on a Caribbean cruise with his wife and will not be back in the country until May 20, lawyer Salvador Panelo said the former Comelec chief had nothing to do with an allegedly secret meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and officers of ZTE Corp., the Chinese firm that won the bidding for the allegedly graft-ridden NBN project.
Panelo did acknowledge that the Arroyos did visit the ZTE headquarters for lunch on November 2, 2006, but said this was on the invitation of officials of the firm and not Abalos’ initiative.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) had reported on the revelations of a new witness about the November 2 golf game and visit to the ZTE headquarters.
After the news broke Wednesday morning, Malacañang and a ZTE spokesman initially denied any meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Chinese telecommunications firm. However, later in the day, the Palace admitted a meeting had, indeed, taken place but said there was “nothing irregular” about it.
The NBN contract with ZTE was scrapped last year following allegations of kickbacks and overpricing to which Abalos, who supposedly brokered the deal, and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, have been linked.
Panelo said Abalos, who was vacationing in China with his wife at the time the President was on an official visit to several Chinese provinces, had been invited to play golf at the Shenzhen course by friends from ZTE, in return for his having them play at the Wack-Wack golf club in Mandaluyong City.
Abalos then decided to call the First Gentleman, who Panelo quoted the former poll body chief describing as his “favorite golfing buddy,” and invite him to play golf. Mr. Arroyo, in turn, took the President with him, the lawyer said.
"Abalos called FG [First Gentleman] so they could play golf, then FG invited the president along,” said Panelo in a phone interview, adding that among those who went with the First Couple and also played golf were former House speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Filipino consuls and members of the presidential delegation.
Panelo said ZTE officials were engaged in a separate golf game the same day Abalos and the First Couple played in Shenzhen. It was after the game, he said, that the ZTE officials approached and invited the President and her party to lunch at their firm’s headquarters.
The lawyer maintained there was no secret meeting about the NBN deal. “How could they have talked about the deal when the fact alone that there are pictures means it was a purely social affair.”
"The allegation of a new fabricated witness linking Abalos, FG and PGMA [the President’s initials] to the cancelled national broadband project is a recycled issue,” Panelo said. “The former Comelec chairman has already testified in the Senate [investigation into the NBN deal] relative to the incident of playing golf in Shenzhen."
"Evidently the revival [of the NBN issue] is politically designed and geared towards the presidential election of 2010 in order to erode the credibility of the Arroyo administration and its favored presidential candidate," Panelo said.
|
