THIS IS STILL UNDONE!!
Year 2006:
FG in $20,000 hotel suite During Manny Pacquiao’s match with Erick Morales in Las Vegas, the First Gentleman allegedly stayed in a $20,000-a-night suite at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mike said that there was nothing corrupt about accepting the free luxury suite offered to him by the hotel. He argued that was the husband of a head of state, he was entitled to such perks.
No German bank account Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that a member of the Arroyo family maintained a bank account in Germany amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. First Gentleman Arroyo flew to Germany and secured a certification from the bank to disprove Cayetano’s claims. Upon his return, he sought Cayetano’s expulsion from Congress, but without success.
Toxic JPEPA? The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) was signed between Arroyo and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The treaty aimed to promote investments and trade between the two countries. Various civil society groups contested the agreement because the government did not consult them. According to these groups, although the agreement secures employment in Japan, the treaty includes an “environmentally unjust bilateral trade”
In 2008, the Senate finally ratified the agreement by a vote of 16-4 as the agreement was favorable since 95 percent of exports from the Philippines to Japan will have zero duties.
Meanwhile, numerous representatives from the house questioned the Senate decision, as the agreement “will bring a tsunami of unfair trade and toxic waste”
Year 2007
Estrada Pardon After spending six years in detention on plunder and graft and corruption charges, fromer president Joseph Estrada was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sandiganbayan in October 2007. three days after, President Arroyo granted him pardon, citing a policy to release prisoners aged 70.
Fallout from ZTE The scandal was exposed in August 2007, a few months after Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE Corp. vice president Yu Yong signed a $329.5 million contact for a national broadband network deal in April. President Arroyo and the first Gentleman were said to have visited China for the contract signing.
Rep. Carlos Padilla (Nueva Vizcaya) said that Comelec chairman Benjamín Abalos also joined the president in China to broker the deal. Abalos denied brokering the deal but admitted going to China four times. In September 2007, the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. testified that he was with Abalos in China and that Abalos demanded money from ZTE officials.
The following day, the Supreme Court promulgated a TRO stopping the deal between the Philippines and China and gave ZTE 15days to comment.
NEDA chairman Romulo Neri testified in the Senate hearings and said Abalos tried to bribe him with P200 million but he refused to answer some senators’ questions, viting executive privilege. Abalos resigned as Comelec chairman in October 2007 as President Arroyo canceled the deal in a trip to China.
Jun Lozada, former chief executive officer of the Philippines Forest Corp. and NEDA consultant, testified in February 2008 that Abalos and the first Gentleman were to receive kickbacks once the deal was signed. Speaker de Venecia was unsealed and got dragged into the deal when his son said he was also in China.
On july 2008, the SC dismissed three petitions that questions the constitutionality of the deal and declared it moot and academic.
Impeachment: Pulido’s version Lawyer Roel Pulido filed an impeachment complainant against President Arroyo. Enclosed be an administration ally, Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis, it was sen as a move to foil another complaint against the President.
Congress trashed the complaints.
Money from Malacañang Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio revealed that he was given a paper bag containing P500, 000 in a Malacañang meeting in October 2007. The money was allegedly for community projects. The bags were handed out by a female malacañang staff. Panlilio said he accepted the money because no conditions were attached; he did not consider it a bribe. Various versions of the source of the money came out as other local officials present in the meeting admitted receiving either P500, 00 or P200, 000.
Other officials who confirmed receiving money were Governors Joseltio Mendoza and Leo Campos, and Representatives Rachel Arenas, Antonio Cuenco, Bienvenido Abante, Mauricio Domogan, Tomas Dumpit Jr., and some others who refused to be named. The named nine officials were charged by the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly receiving bribes. Due to numerous versions on the source of the money, Sen. Miguel Zubiri said during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing that money has no direct link to the Palace.
Glorietta 2 and Batasan bombings After string of controversies hounding the Arroyo administration, bombings incidents happened in Glorietta 2 and the House of Representatives. The police, in a speedy investigation, found that the bombing of Batasan was initially intended of Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar.
The Glorietta 2 bombing, on the other hand, resulted from gas leakage. Rumors spread that the bombings were perpetrated by the government to divert public’s attention awat from the Arroyo Scandals.
The Batasan bombing happened the day before Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio was set to testify on the bribery of local officials in the Senate and a day before the House justice committee was to hear the impeachment case.
The Glorietta 2 bombing happened during he height of the bribery case which took place in Malacañang.
Manila Pen siege Antonio Trillanes IV, together with Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and 25 other Magdalo officers, walked out of their trial and marched on the streets of Makati City. Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and some soldiers from the AFP joined the march that ended in the Peninsula Manila Hotel. After several hours, the group surrendered to the government forces after a military assault. They were arrested and several journalists were detained.
Missing: Jonas Burgos Of the numerous human rights violations, political killings, and abduction, the case
+This blog is not intending to copy the writer’s idea and scoop but only to show it. All the information above was copy from yesterday newspaper issue July 26, 2009 of The Philippine Star Newspaper. None of the information was rephrasing to show that this in formation was really printed in the said newspaper. I personally choose to repost this article her in my blog because I believe that this research is indeed a good information that people must know. This is not because I’m against to Pres. Arroyo but this is to show the state and issues during arroyo’s regime. The credit of this blog is still to the Philippine Star Newspaper specially to Lei Chavez.+
