Bribery in the Palace: Akbayan calls for probe of solons

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros on Monday challenged the House majority to investigate the alleged distribution of 'cash gifts' by Malacañang officials to congressmen after President GMA met with them to discuss the impeachment complaint. "The issue merits an inquiry. If the members of the majority feel that there's nothing to it, then they should not hesitate subjecting it to a probe in the Ethics Committee," Hontiveros said in a statement. She said that whether the money given was a gift, bonus or an out and out act of bribery, the action is a clear violation of the law. "Whatever it's called, the action is illegal and unethical," Rep. Hontiveros said. "If Malacañang wanted to (give) a bonus to members of the majority, presuming that they deserve one, then the President could have easily done so properly, with transparency and full disclosure. Doing it under the table would only confirm that this is an act of bribery." Hontiveros had earlier said that an there has been attempt to bribe several opposition congressmen in exchange for sponsorship of the impeachment raps. Her allegation was bolstered by the admission of Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran who said that he was offered a P2-million bribe by Kampi executive Francis Ver in exchange for endorsing an impeachment complaint against Arroyo. The alleged bribe attempt came before lawyer Rafael "Ruel" Pulido filed an impeachment complaint based on the scrapped $329 million national broadband network (NBN) government deal with China's Zhong Xing Telecommunications (ZTE) Corp. In that complaint, Pulido alleged that Arroyo has betrayed public trust because she failed to stop the reported bribery involving some of her Cabinet officials and even First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo. The complaint was later endorsed by Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis, whose campaign for office in May 2007 has reportedly been aided by another Arroyo ally, Sen. Edgardo Angara. San Luis’s father who had served as Laguna governor is also a known Arroyo associate. "This completes the whole drama, reaffirming the minority's position that the impeachment complaint is tainted right from the start. To insulate the president for one year, they introduced a weak complaint that nobody in the right mind would dare to support. Then, they went about offering money to get potential endorsers of the complaint," Hontiveros, referring to the bribery in the Palace, said Monday. The majority then mangled the Constitution to delegate a power that is supposedly in the hands of the Speaker of the House to his deputies to hasten its referral to the Justice Committee and initiate the one-year bar against impeachment, Rep. Hontiveros added. "And now, to prevent the rift within the House majority from hurting the President, we have this report that majority legislators received cash gifts immediately after a meeting with the President on the impeachment complaint,"she said. Rep. Hontiveros explained that if proven true, members of Congress who took the money have violated the Revised Penal Code and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials (RA 6713). "Bribery is prohibited under the Revised Penal Code, while Section 7 (d) of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards prohibits public officials from accepting any gift, gratuity, or any favor in the course of their official duties," Rep. Hontiveros said. She said that if found guilty, the Ethics committee may actually recommend the expulsion of any House member who reportedly received gifts from Malacañang. "Upon the recommendation of the House Ethics Committee, the plenary may suspend or expel any erring member through a 2/3 vote," Rep. Hontiveros said, adding, however, that suspension may not be imposed for more than sixty days. - GMANews.TV