SC affirms acquittal of GMA over botched NBN-ZTE deal
THE Supreme Court has affirmed the acquittal of former President Gloria Macapagal-arroyo by the Sandiganbayan in connection with the graft cases filed against her over the alleged $329-million anomalous National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with Chinese telecom firm Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment International Investment Limited (ZTE).
In a 13-page resolution made public last February 23, 2021, the SC’S Third Division held that the Office of the Special Prosecutor wrongly assailed the resolutions of the Sandiganbayan issued on August 8, 2016 and November 7, 2016, which granted Mrs. Arroyo’s demurrer to evidence which resulted in the dismissal of the graft cases filed against her for violation of Section 3(i) of RA 3019 (Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and Section 7(d) of RA 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.
The Court held that the petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Civil Procedure filed by the prosecution to seek the reversal of the Sandiganbayan’s resolutions would violate Mrs. Arroyo’s constitutional right against double jeopardy under Article III, Section 21 of the Constitution.
“A cursory examination of the petition readily reveals that in essence, petitioner excoriates the Sandiganbayan’s evaluation and assessment of the evidence presented by the prosecution. Petitioner bemoans the “gross misapprehension of the facts and the evidence on record, which led to the grant of the demurrer in favor of GMA,” the SC said.
“However, a writ of certiorari can only correct errors of jurisdiction, or those involving the commission of grave abuse of discretion, not those which call for the evaluation of evidence and factual findings. Accordingly, we cannot condone this specious approach at stretching the allowable limits of questioning a judgment of acquittal,” the SC added.
The SC pointed out that it is now within its jurisdiction to review factual and evidentiary issues raised by the prosecution.
Arroyo was accused of violating Section 3 (i) of the anti-graft law when she approved the NBN-ZTE project for personal gain despite knowing the irregularities in the project.
Likewise, the former president was charged with violation of RA 6713 for having lunch and playing golf with ZTE officials, while the broadband project proposal was still being assessed by the government.
However, Sandiganbayan held that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to support its claim that the contract was grossly disadvantageous to the government.
As to the accusation that Mrs. Arroyo violated Section 7 (d) of RA 6713, the anti-graft court stressed that it did not have any territorial jurisdiction over the same because it was committed outside the country.
Thus, the anti-graft court granted Mrs. Arroyo’s demurrer to evidence and dismissed the cases against her.
MANDALAY, Myanmar—myanmar security forces on Wednesday raided a neighborhood in the country’s largest city that houses state railway workers who have gone on strike to protest last month’s military coup.
Police sealed off the Mingalar Taung Nyunt neighborhood in Yangon where the Ma Hlwa Kone train station and housing for railway workers are located. Photos and video on social media showed officers blocking streets and what was said to be people escaping.
At least three arrests were reported, but couldn’t immediately be confirmed. There was no apparent resistance to the raid, and local media reported that the authorities forced at least some residents from their homes.
Later Wednesday, police fired warning shots, tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds in other areas of Yangon to disperse protesters. In North Okkalapa, press and social media reports said at least 200 people were arrested. About 400 young people who were detained in mass arrests a week ago are believed to still be behind bars.
Also, the UN Security Council unanimously called for a reversal of the military coup, strongly condemning the violence against peaceful protesters and calling for “utmost restraint” by the military. The call was made in a presidential statement, which is a step below a resolution but becomes part of the official record of the UN’S most powerful body.
Diplomats said earlier drafts of the statement were stronger but drew objections from permanent council members China and Russia as well as from Myanmar’s neighbor India, and from Vietnam, which is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Myanmar.
The raid on rail workers comes just days after several Myanmar unions, including the Myanmar Railway Worker’s Union Federation, issued a joint call for a nationwide work stoppage. They said the strike would be part of a broader effort for “the full, extended shutdown of the Myanmar economy.”
Despite the increasingly violent tactics of security forces, protests continued Wednesday in cities and towns across the country, including Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Dawei, Myitkyina, Myitkyina, Bago, Kalaw and Myingyan. Some were met with police force, while others were brief and violence-free.
Riot police in Dawei fired tear gas, forcing marchers to disperse and hide. There were also reports of the use of rubber bullets. No injuries have been confirmed.
A leading organizer of protests in the small southern city was arrested Wednesday morning, according to the local Dawei Watch news service.
Dawei has become a hotspot for anti-coup protests and has experienced heavy police crackdowns, with up to five deaths.
In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, Buddhist monks joined about 1,000 demonstrators marching through the streets near their monastery. They carried a banner that read “Demonstrating Peacefully.”the march ended before security forces could confront them.
Myanmar has been roiled by protests and other acts of civil disobedience since the February 1 coup that toppled elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government just as it was to start its second term. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.
Security forces have responded with mass arrests and at times lethal force. At least 60 protesters have been killed since the military takeover, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Authorities have also moved to shut down independent reporting, both through arrests of journalists and the closure of media outlets.
State railway workers in Yangon and across the country were among the earliest organized supporters of the protest movement and their strike began soon after the coup.
Police last month attempted to intimidate railway workers in Mandalay by roaming through their housing area one night, shouting and randomly firing guns.
The junta now in control of the country, formally called the State Administration Council, indirectly acknowledged the effectiveness of the rail strike.
The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday cited officials as saying that rail transport between Yangon and Mandalay would resume “in the near future.”
It also acknowledged that the banking sector has been affected.
The dawn raid on the railway workers on Wednesday followed another night of intimidation by police marching through residential areas in several cities after the 8 p.m. curfew, firing guns and stun grenades and staging selective raids to arrest people.
The Democraticvoice of Burma news service and other media reported Wednesday that the anti-military People’s Party said a protester detained at Insein Prison in northern Yangon had died and his body was left unclaimed. The prison has been notorious for decades for holding political prisoners, and many of the hundreds of people arrested in yang on in recent weeks are inside.
On Tuesday, a school principal and supporter of the protest movement died of unknown causes after being taken into custody by security forces, according to media reports and an activist who knew him.
Days earlier, a local activist with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party also died in custody. Witnesses said his body had wounds consistent with torture, according to New Yorkbased Human Rights Watch.
Democratic Voice of Burma also reported that three NLD officials in Mandalay were detained Tuesday night.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 1,930 people have been arrested in connection with the coup. Dozens of journalists have been arrested, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, who has been charged under a public order law that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.