CA affirms guilty ruling on Neri over ZTE deal

Former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals has affirmed the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman finding former socioeconomics and planning secretary Romulo Neri guilty of misconduct for his role in the scuttled $329 million deal of the Philippine government with China’s ZTE Corporation.

In a two-page resolution, the appeals court said Neri failed to raise new issues that would warrant a reversal of their July 2013 ruling.

“It is apparent that the arguments raised by the parties in their respective motions for reconsideration had been exhaustively considered and duly adjudicated by this court…,” the appeals court said.

“Notably, the parties failed to raise any fresh proposition or presented new evidence which would warrant a modification or reversal [of the July 2013 decision],” the appeals court resolution stated.

Neri, in a Senate inquiry, alleged that he was offered a bribe by former elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., but he refused to divulge information about his conversation with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the ZTE contract.

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