Profiles in corruption: GMA, Hello Garci, NBN-ZTE, atbp.

IN the 2004 presidential elections, sample surveys showed the incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), slightly ahead of the challenger, the charismatic actor Fernando Poe Jr. On June 5, 2004, while the vote counting was going on, a tape recording of a phone conversation with a Comelec commissioner, Virgilio Garcillano, hit the airwaves. This was the “Hello Garci” tapes, purportedly of a female (GMA) asking the commissioner to rig the elections in her favor. This gave credence to a Filipino election phenomenon of “dagdag-bawas” (addition-subtraction) of votes to favor one candidate over the other — an anomalous and criminal endeavor.

With public pressure mounting to investigate the scandal, GMA gave her famous “I’m sorry” speech on June 27 on nationwide television, admitting it was her voice but denied vehemently attempting to manipulate the election results. On July 8, 10 of her Cabinet members resigned, demanding that GMA also resign. This was the infamous “Hyatt 10” that later jumped to the camp of the next president, Noynoy Aquino, proving to be the thorn in GMA’s side in the remaining years of her term.

An earlier move by members of the congressional minority to impeach GMA failed, with her majority coalition blocking this initiative. No impeachment trial took place. Many believed that she would have won the election anyway. But her attempt to rig the election marred her victory — a deadly blemish to the remaining years of her regime.

NBN-ZTE deal a telenovela

This corruption scandal is about the anomalous $329 million construction contract awarded to the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE for the proposed government national broadband network (NBN). This convoluted case ensnared the highest and most trusted people of GMA, whose roles in exposing the scam were either seemingly heroic or murky at best, advancing their own nefarious agenda around the deal. There was the tragic figure of Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, GMA’s man (and alleged bagman of the first gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo), who went to China four times to broker the deal. Senate investigations subsequently revealed that he tried to bribe NEDA Director General Romulo Neri — “Sec, may 200 ka dito” — in exchange for the NEDA imprimatur (P200 million for the NEDA secretary).

While on one of his China trips, Abalos was accompanied by Joey de Venecia 3rd, the son of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., a political ally of GMA. The young de Venecia claimed to have heard Abalos “demand money” from ZTE officials. He implicated Mike Arroyo, the president’s husband, who he said had told him to “back off” from pursuing the NBN project. Joey de Venecia was president of Amsterdam Holdings, the company that lost its bid to ZTE for the NBN project.

To complicate matters, a subplot was written into the scam with the appearance of Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., who, together with his boss at NEDA, Secretary Neri, testified before the Senate blue ribbon of bribery and kickbacks related to the deal and likewise implicating Mike Arroyo. By this time, Neri and Lozada had skipped town to avoid appearing further in the Senate inquiry. Lozada was later allegedly kidnapped by GMA’s Malacañang cordon sanitaire for him to change his story. Abalos eventually resigned in ignominy, and GMA was forced to cancel the contract. And the senior de Venecia lost the speakership.

PCSO fund scam

Among GMA’s depravities was the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) fund scam, where GMA and some of her officials faced plunder cases before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly pocketing P365 million.

It was discovered that money meant for Catholic and secular charities was diverted for personal use, including cash gifts to politicians, allies and friends. One case involved the gifting of luxury vehicles, “Pajeros,” to GMA’s favorite Catholic bishops, not so much as religious fervor and payment for indulgences guaranteeing her acceptance to heaven but simply proving that the powerful robed hierarchy is bribable.

The Office of the Ombudsman’s review resolution of the plunder complaint accused GMA and her cohorts of “raiding the public treasury by withdrawing and receiving in several instances the amount from confidential/intelligence funds (CIF) of the PCSO and unlawfully transferring or conveying the same into their possession and control through irregularly issued disbursement vouchers and fictitious expenditures… The series of acts form a pattern, not only of misuse and raid of PCSO’s CIF from 2007-2010 but also of illegal conveyance of disposition of cash advances disbursed therefrom, all while taking advantage of their respective official functions. ”

The aftermath

In the two plunder and related corruption and criminal cases cited above (NBN-ZTE, PCSO-CIF), GMA and her coterie were detained or exonerated in various degrees not of their culpability but in their hierarchy of status — reflecting the disparities within Philippine society. The big fish serve time but eventually get away, and the small fry are devoured by the system.

Among the perpetrators was Rosario Uriarte, the general manager of the PCSO. Uriarte was accused of diverting funds from the charity organization for personal gain. She faced plunder charges but fled the country in 2011. However, she returned in 2016 and was arrested. The Sandiganbayan acquitted her of plunder in 2018

Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante, an undersecretary in the Department of Agriculture, was implicated in a related PCSO-CIF case — the fertilizer scam. He faced plunder charges but was acquitted in 2010 and released.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Neri became a state witness and was not incarcerated.

Lozada, a former consultant of the NEDA, testified against high-ranking officials involved in the controversial deal. He was not incarcerated.

Abalos faced charges of bribery and corruption but was eventually acquitted in 2012. He was not incarcerated and was freed after the trial.

Mike Arroyo, the president’s husband, was the influential Svengali, considering his proximity to the power center. He never held any public office, but his spectral presence was felt and permeated these gigantic government projects. While he was not incarcerated, he faced allegations of involvement in shady deals during his wife’s presidency. He was not charged and remained free.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s vice president and assumed his remaining three unserved years with his controversial forced resignation after his aborted impeachment trial. GMA’s own term gave her an additional six years.

Upon his assumption to the presidency, President Noynoy Aquino doggedly pursued his predecessor for her alleged crime of electoral fraud and corruption precipitated by the “Hello Garci” episode in 2004, rigging the senatorial elections in 2007 and the PSCO corruption cases. She was arrested on Nov.18, 2011, but spent most of her detention period under hospital arrest due to her health condition. After almost five years of hospital detention, the Supreme Court acquitted her of the charges in July 2016 due to lack of evidence.

While in detention, she was elected as representative of a Pampanga district. She was a powerful legislator, completing three consecutive terms in 2019 and even becoming speaker of the House of Representatives.

She continues to be influential in government, successfully transitioning from being at one time a disgraced incarcerated former president whose acquittal from all her cases may have contributed to her rehabilitation in the public eye.

Hello Garci! Sic transit Gloria!