Ombudsman won’t upgrade graft raps vs Arroyo et al

MANILA, Philippines—The Office of the Ombudsman has refused to upgrade to plunder the graft charges against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and several others in connection with the canceled national broadband network deal, but it has also denied motions filed by her co-accused seeking the dismissal of the charges.

With these rulings, the cases against Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and former Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza,  are now expected to move forward in the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division.

The anti-graft court is expected to review the charges to determine probable cause, which is necessary for the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the accused.

The court earlier held in abeyance the determination of probable cause to proceed with the trial and directed the prosecution or the Office of the Ombudsman to complete first the preliminary investigation of the case. This entailed allowing the accused to file motions for reconsideration of  the Ombudsman’s original resolution indicting them on graft charges.

The Ombudsman’s  special prosecutor informed the court in a formal manifestation Wednesday that it had resolved to deny the pending motions.

Arroyo has been charged with two counts of graft and one count of violation of the code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees in connection with the approval of the NBN deal, which was later canceled amid allegations of bribery and overpricing.

The Office of the Ombudsman, in a memorandum approved March 5, denied the motions for reconsideration filed by Mendoza and Mike Arroyo seeking the dismissal of the charges against them.

Arroyo and Abalos, on the other hand, did not file any motion for reconsideration against their indictment.

The Office of the Ombudsman also dismissed a motion from militants seeking to upgrade to plunder the charges against the four accused.

In dismissing the motions for reconsideration, the Office of the Ombudsman said the cancellation of the contract after its perfection and prior to the filing of the charges before the court did not absolve anyone of criminal liability.

It said the cancellation in 2007 was “was made in bad faith and cannot be used by the accused to their advantage.” It also noted that the terms of the contract had been partially fulfilled and that there was every intention to pursue it even before the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against it.

“The accused cannot claim that it was as if no contract was ever executed by virtue of its rescission because the reason for such act was precisely the knowledge from the very beginning that the contract was unfavorable to the government and extremely overpriced to accommodate the commission or ‘kickback’ meant for the accused,” it said.

It added that the cancellation of the contract was not done because of a belated realization of a mistake, but to extricate themselves from criminal accountability for a fatal flaw that they knew from the beginning of the transaction.

“This form of escape cannot be granted to the accused high-ranking government officials in our government that holds as sacred the dictum that public office is a public trust,” it said.

The Office of the Ombudsman said there was sufficient evidence to sustain the belief that the Arroyos, Abalos and Mendoza conspired to enter into the NBN contract with China’s ZTE Corp., which they knew was disadvantageous to the government.

It said the contention of Mike Arroyo that he could not  be charged because a similar complaint was dismissed much earlier was already addressed in its previous ruling.

As for refusing to upgrade the charges to plunder, it said no new evidence was presented to justify this and that the statement of witness Dante Madriaga was insufficient to establish plunder.

“Such a charge cannot rest solely on a verbal allegation but must be substantiated by further proof of direct participation,” it said, adding that the filing of a charge should not rest simply on the assumption that a crime had been committed.

Madriaga earlier said that Arroyo confirmed the delivery of $30 million following the signing of the NBN contract with China.