2 solons affirm P2-M bribe try by Arroyo ally on impeach bid

(Updated 9:15 p.m.) "A male ally of Malacañang" approached six congressmen separately last week and asked them to endorse an impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, allegedly in exchange for P2 million each. Two of the congressmen said the offer was made to them hours before a lawyer filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs Arroyo on Friday, October 5. Lawyer Roberto Rafael “Roel" Pulido, who filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs Arroyo on the same day, said he "will contest" claims linking the complaint he filed to the reported bribe attempt. "I will contest anyone who will say that my complaint was shown and offered to lawmakers before I filed it," Pulido said. "I believe [Beltran]'s statement. I will not doubt Ka Bel because he is a man of principle, but the complaint [shown to the lawmakers] was not my complaint," he said. He said he "parted" with his complaint about 4 p.m. on Friday, adding that he was the only one who had a copy of the complaint. Two of the five congressmen reportedly approached - Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis and Dan Fernandez of Laguna - confirmed that hours before the complaint was filed, the "Malacanang ally" offered each of them P2-million bribe to endorse the complaint against Mrs Arroyo. Three other congressmen, Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan De Oro, Justin Marc Chipeco of Laguna and Florencio "Bem" Noel of An Waray said they were asked to endorse the complaint but were not offered money. A sixth congressman, Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman, was also reportedly approached, according to Beltran, but was unavailable for interview as of posting time. No name ID All five congressmen interviewed by GMANews.TV refused to identify on record the "Malacanang ally." Beltran told GMANews.TV that before noon of Friday, a man offered him P1 million and later raised the offer to P2 million. "He made two offers, while I was at the House session hall for the budget deliberations. Nasa gallery siya, nag-aapura siya when he approached me. Una P1 million before noon, then between 1:30 and 2 p.m., sa second offer, binulungan n'ya ko, sabi n'ya may 2M ka dito. I refused his offer and told him na hindi ako basta basta pumipirma," said Beltran. Beltran said he was told by the man that he was in a hurry to file the complaint "para wala nang mauna." Fernandez also told GMANews.TV that he was offered the same amount by the guy he described as "fair-skinned, in his late 40s and often seen roaming the House." He said the P2-million offer was made about 4 p.m. of Friday. "He asked me to endorse the complaint. He told me na mayroong maitutulong sa'yo dito. He told me, Cong, may pera ka dito. But I told him I don't want to endorse it," he said. For his part, Rodriguez also confirmed that he was asked to endorse the complaint Friday afternoon but said that he wasn't offered a bribe. "The man asked me to endorse the complaint around 2:30 p.m. of Friday while we were at the plenary hall for budget deliberations. He asked me to sign it without offering anything in exchange," he said. Sergio Apostol, chief presidential legal counsel, denied that an ally of the President tried to bribe opposition lawmakers to endorse the impeachment complaint. "If he is really an ally of Malacanang, he is not using his brain," Apostol said. "That’s too unbelievable. That’s too far-fetched. Imagine a man from the gallery would offer someone P2 million. That’s beyond one’s imagination," he added. He said the allegation is a "distraction" intended to direct the focus of the administration from economic development. At Zamora's office Beltran said a closed-door meeting was held at the office of Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora Monday morning to discuss the alleged bribe attempt made by the man. He said that during the said meeting, the names of Chipeco and Hataman were also mentioned as among those who were approached to endorse the complaint. Another lawmaker, who requested anonymity, said the man also asked Noel to endorse the complaint. In separate interviews with GMANews.TV on Monday, Chipeco and Noel admitted that somebody approached and asked them to endorse the complaint. However, they both said that they were not offered money for the endorsement, which they turned down. "Someone approached me and ask me to study the complaint, and tingin ko funny ang complaint kaya biniro ko yung tao, sabi ko I’ll sign it kung ako ang gagawa. That was days before Friday," Chipeco said. "May tumawag maybe that was Thursday nakiusap pag-aralan daw yun impeachment complaint. I said padala nyo para makita namin, they faxed it eh nakita namin walang laman kaya rejected agad. Walang offer na sinabi, hindi na umabot do'n kasi rejected na," said Noel. Noel said what was faxed to him was a one-page draft complaint that was different from that of Pulido's complaint. He said the one-page draft did not mention the name of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, unlike Pulido's complaint "wherein the name of JDV was mentioned thrice." Chipeco also said he was shown a one-page draft complaint similar to what was faxed to Noel. "It was lousy. Di pa napa-fine tune, outline lang." GMANews.TV tried but failed to contact Hataman for his side of the story. Palace ploy? On Friday, toward the close of the House plenary session on the 2008 General Appropriations Act, an impeachment complaint against Arroyo was filed by Pulido, who is also a known critic of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, an Arroyo ally. On Saturday, Rep. Roilo Golez of Paranaque, House of Representatives senior minority leader, said the Pulido complaint could be "a pre-emptive impeachment move to insulate (Arroyo) from a real hostile impeachment." The complaint supposedly signals "an internecine war" among apparent factions in the pro-Arroyo coalition, Golez said. Golez noted, too, that the Pulido complaint has been endorsed by Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis, whose campaign for office in May 2007 has reportedly been aided by Arroyo ally, Sen. Edgardo Angara. San Luis’s father who had served as Laguna governor is also a known Arroyo associate. San Luis was a known member of Angara's faction of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, but he ran as an independent in the May 2007 elections. In the 14th Congress, he has been a known ally of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, the party founded by President Arroyo when she ran as vice president to De Venecia in 1998. The party is currently composed of the President's allies who have been attempting to wrestle the speakership post from De Venecia, chairman of the dominant Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats. House buzz “The buzz last night (Friday) in the session hall among majority and minority members was that it’s a preemptive impeachment move to insulate PGMA (Arroyo) from a real hostile impeachment move," Golez said. Some lawmakers, Golez added, see the Pulido impeachment move as "a possible prelude" to an emerging effort to oust De Venecia as speaker. “The Pulido impeachment move would prevent JDV from countering with an impeachment move if threatened with ouster or (is) actually ousted as Speaker," Golez said. “However, it is believed that if JDV has enough loyalists, at least 80 congressmen, he can have them sign and endorse the Pulido impeachment complaint and that would trigger a gargantuan political crisis that could draw other political forces into the fray. I repeat, all political forces," Golez said, He warned that “the group that concocted this plot must rethink this move before things go out of control." Apostol dismissed Golez's warning that the impeachment complaint against Arroyo may result in a "political crisis." “Wala itong political crisis. Tingnan mo iyong opposition ayaw nilang sumama. Tapos itong si Golez sabi niya may gulo. Wala iyan.... Politics is a game of intrigue…Golez is just intriguing," Apostol said. 'Internecine war' According to Golez, the minority is not inclined to join and sign and will in the meantime just observe, since this appears to be a majority matter, an internecine war in the making." In 2001, Golez had served as the first National Security Adviser of Mrs Arroyo, and was a pro-administration politician. An ex-hall of famer for boxing at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Golez had also served as postmaster-general during the time of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Pulido had served as lawyer for the Magdalo rebel officers but had since reportedly been dismissed by his clients. Pulido filed his impeachment complaint against Mrs Arroyo toward the close of office hours on Friday, October 5. The complaint was received by House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno, a De Venecia associate. House members were at that time winding down their special plenary session on the proposed 2008 General Appropriations Act. Copies of the Pulido complaint were reportedly distributed to the congressmen in the evening. Pulido, a defeated congressional candidate in the May 2004 elections, had also filed last September 20 an unprecedented ethics complaint against De Venecia for the latter’s alleged failure to stop his son from intervening in government transactions. - GMANews.TV