THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN ABALOS
Benjamin Abalos has been an unusual controversy-magnet since he assumed the position as the soft-spoken chairman of the Commission on Elections from 2002 to 2007. 'Commissioner' is used loosely by Abalos' staunch critics, as the former Mandaluyong mayor has been accused of charging exorbitant 'tong-pats' or commissions in the botched $329-million NBN-ZTE deal. But before the alleged overpriced contract broke out in 2007, Abalos has been linked to vote-padding and overspending.
Read More (Updated 10:19 p.m.) For temporary liberty, former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, charged for his alleged involvement in the botched overpriced ZTE-NBN deal, has posted bail before the Sandiganbayan. "He posted the P30,000 bail today," Edgardo Urieta, the anti-graft court sheriff, told GMANews.TV in a phone interview Tuesday. A report on dzBB radio said the Sandiganbayan's Fourth Division set Abalos' arraignment on July 7. The Sandiganbayan panel is handling the graft case the Office of the Ombudsman filed against Abalos in connection with the $329-million broadband deal the Arroyo government entered with China's Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Corp. (ZTE) in 2007. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo aborted the allegedly overpriced deal when allegations of corruption broke out. Abalos allegedly brokered the deal between the government and the Chinese firm, but he has since denied wrongdoing. "
Ang government
ng Pilipinas ay umuutang sa China,
at nung sumagot ang Chinese government
at pinapautang tayo, they said they are designating ZTE as their prime project contractor.
Kanino ako nag-broker,
sa Chinese government?
Yan ang di ko maintindihan," he said in an interview aired over GMA Network's "24 Oras." (The Philippine government was asking for a loan from China, and the Chinese government said yes and designated ZTE as its primary project contractor. So to whom did I broker, the Chinese government? I don't understand that.) He also said that he is confident about the case, but added that he is worried about its effects to his family. Former Socioeconomic planning chair Romulo Neri, currently the head of the Social Security System, had accused Abalos of offering him P200 million in kickbacks in connection with the deal. Neri and Abalos are both indicted by the Ombudsman for graft, while President Arroyo and husband Jose Miguel Arroyo were cleared of alleged involvement. The Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division, which is handling Neri's case, issued a hold departure order against him on Tuesday, a day after he posted bail.
- Sophia Regina Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV 
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