Controversies involving Benjamin Abalos

The Commission of Elections was embroiled in several controversies during Benjamin Abalos' term as the poll body's chairman from 2002 to 2007. Two deals pertaining to the election modernization program were scrapped over alleged anomalies. During his term, the outcome of two national elections, 2004 and 2007, were contested and investigated. The latest of these scandals, the ZTE deal, prompted Abalos to resign from his post. Witnesses alleged that Abalos brokered the deal in exchange for hefty commissions. ZTE deal In August 2007, Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla alleged that Abalos brokered for the national broadband network (NBN) project. Padilla claimed that Abalos met with officials of the Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which got the US $329 million contract for the broadband project. Jose de Venecia III, son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, meanwhile alleged that Abalos offered him US$10 million to withdraw his unsolicited proposal on the NBN project. De Venecia III also claimed that Abalos asked for money from the ZTE Corp. officials. Abalos denied brokering for the National Broadband Network project despite admitting he knows some officials in ZTE Corp. He admitted making four trips to China and playing golf there. He also admitted that ZTE officials, whom he says are his golf buddies, hosted and paid for the trips. Spending spree The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that Abalos went on a spending spree shortly after assuming the Comelec chairmanship: he authorized a performance incentive pay equivalent to a month’s salary for the poll body’s 5,200 personnel and approved the purchase of seven new cars for all the commissioners. Voided election projects Photokina deal. Comelec awarded a P6.5-billion project for the voter registration and identification system (VRIS) to Photokina Marketing Corporation during the Estrada administration. Photokina bagged the project despite the fact that its bid was beyond the amount appropriated by Congress for the project. Abalos was not yet the chairman of COMELEC when the project was awarded. However, his name figured in the issue because he had personal ties with the owners of Photokina. He was already Comelec chair when the Supreme Court struck down the project in 2002. Megapacific deal. In 2003, the Comelec entered into a contract with the Mega Pacific Consortium for the purchase of automated counting machines. The P1.3-billion contract was voided by the Supreme Court in 2004 for violating bidding rules and procedure. On January 21, 2004, Pimentel filed criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman against Abalos and other commissioners in connection with the deal. Abalos described the charges as a "demolition job." Pimentel accused Abalos and the other commissioners of committing an act of impropriety when they and their wives traveled to Seoul, South Korea to visit the plant of the maker of the counting machines a few months before the bidding for the contract started. Pimentel said he received information that the Korean company paid for the plane tickets and hotel accommodations for the trip. However, Abalos claimed that the expenses for the trip were paid for out of the P1 million he won in a golf tournament in Wack Wack. On September 27, 2006, the Ombudsman, in a resolution, absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities "for lack of probable cause." It also reversed its June 28 resolution which contained factual findings that can be used by the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Comelec Commissioner Resureccion Borra. Alleged cheating in the elections Hello Garci. The "Hello Garci" tape which came out in 2005 contains alleged wiretapped conversations of vote-rigging in the 2004 elections, including exchanges between a woman presumed to be President Arroyo and a man presumed to be Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Abalos was mentioned in these conversations as the one who sent Garcillano to Mindanao. The scandal rocked the Arroyo administration, casting doubts on its legitimacy and prompting resignations of cabinet members. It triggered mass protests calling for President Arroyo to step down. The President survived impeachment attempts, but not before admitting that she talked to a COMELEC official -- a "lapse in judgment" for which she apologized. Bedol controversy. The administration's senatorial ticket lorded it over the opposition ticket with a 12-0 sweep in Maguindanao towns during the 2007 elections. Election watchdogs claimed there were poll irregularities in some areas in the province. Atty. Lintang Bedol, the provincial election supervisor, snubbed COMELEC hearings that investigated the allegations. When he did surface, he reported that pertinent election documents which were supposed to be in his custody were stolen. Bedol was found guilty of indirect contempt in August 2007. The arrest warrant for him to serve out his sentence of six months' imprisonment was issued in October 2007. He has yet to be taken into custody. Sources: GMA News, Supreme Court, PCIJ, Newsbreak