No bribery attempts during 2004 polls, ex-aviation chief says

Former Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general Alfonso Cusi on Tuesday denied helping distribute money to ensure the victory of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2004 presidential polls. During a previous Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, former Shari'a court judge Nagamura Moner admitted that he helped distribute bribe money to help Mrs. Arroyo win in the 2004 elections. Moner had identified Cusi as the person who recruited him to do so. But during Tuesday's hearing, Cusi said he never asked Moner to engage in cheating and that he never gave him any money to be used as bribe. "I take offense against the unfounded allegations by Mr. Moner. It is very clear that Mr. Moner's statements are baseless and are mere hearsay," he said. He explained that he met Moner in 2004 through the former judge's brother who worked under him at the Philippine Ports Authority during that time. Cusi likewise said he met Moner again when the former judge was planning to launch the Lanao Unity Movement, which was supposedly meant to publicize the defection of opposition leaders to the camp of Mrs. Arroyo. Cusi also stressed that senators should not believe Moner's statements because he had once claimed that there was no cheating during the 2004 polls. "Even Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate President Jinggoy Estrada expressed their distrust for Mr. moner's credibility and flip-flopping," he said. But during the hearing, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano asked Cusi how he managed to get so many government positions if he wasn't close with the Arroyos. Aside from the CAAP and PPA, Cusi was also appointed into the Manila International Airport Authority in 2009. Cusi admitted he was friends with former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, but that he didn't know whether his relationship with Mr. Arroyo was a factor in him being chosen to serve in various government posts. Still, Cusi said he was willing to cooperate in the Senate probe despite a pending criminal complaint pending against him before the Department of Justice. The Senate hearing was still ongoing as of posting time. — RSJ, GMA News