Citizens' group to appeal 'flawed' ruling on NBN-ZTE deal

A group of citizens plans to appeal before the Supreme Court the recent ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman clearing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo, of involvement in the ZTE-national broadband network (NBN) deal scandal. In a statement released Friday, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) described as “fatally flawed" the recent decision of the Ombudsman to throw out complaints against the First Couple in relation to the supposedly anomalous $329.4-million contract. “This (is) a decision that sanctions impunity. Why should only two co-conspirators be charged when the facts are very clear that the spouses Miguel and Gloria Arroyo were co-conspirators to the criminal acts committed in the botched NBN-ZTE deal?" said lawyer and CCM leader Harry Roque in the statement. The Ombudsman recommended on Thursday the filing of graft charges against former Elections chief Benjamin Abalos and current Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri for their involvement in the allegedly overpriced broadband deal. The anti-graft court, however, decided to clear both President Arroyo and her husband from criminal liabilities in the NBN-ZTE deal, which the President herself has approved. Arroyo cancelled the deal in October 2007 after it became controversial. Roque said his group will likewise question before the high court President Arroyo’s immunity from both investigation and criminal suits, saying this presidential privilege should only be cited for “official acts." “It will be anomalous to hold that immunity is an inoculation from liability for unlawful acts and omissions. The rule is that unlawful acts of public officials are not acts of the state," he said. Roque said his group will file the appeal in the next 60 days. CCM was one of the complainants in the consolidated graft case filed in October 2007 against public officials and private individuals involved in the NBN-ZTE project. Time to speak up Meanwhile, a religious group urged Neri to speak up on what he knows, now that he has been made a "scapegoat." Sr. Mary John Mananzan, chairwoman of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), said she sent the advice to Neri via text message. “I asked him: why are you allowing yourself to be used as a scapegoat? Stand up for the truth," she said in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines website (www.cbcpnews.com). Mananzan also told Neri she was praying for him to do the right thing. She said the decision of the Ombudsman to clear the First Couple in the mess should spur Neri to finally speak the truth. On the other hand, Mananzan warned of more mobilizations should the Senate decide to also clear the First Couple. Earlier, ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., who the AMRSP is securing, threatened to take to the streets because of the Ombudsman's decision. “We are just waiting for the Senate’s decision. But if they fail to indict the First Gentleman, I’m sure there will be mobilizations again," Mananzan said. - Andreo C. Calonzo and Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV