Binay smells something fishy in GMA's Colombia trip, Barbados ties

MANILA, Philippines – The United Opposition (UNO) said yesterday that President Arroyo’s instant diplomatic ties with Barbados and her side trip to Colombia could be another anomalous NBN-ZTE deal in the making.

UNO president Jejomar Binay said Mrs. Arroyo’s instant diplomatic ties with Barbados, where the supplier for the billion-peso poll automatic project is based, and her sudden side trip to Colombia reminded him of the President’s controversial trip to Boao in Hainan, China in 2007.

“It’s like a rerun from a bad movie that we’ve seen before. The secret trip, the undue haste to sign an agreement, the alleged involvement of a Palace favorite and a foreign company with a billion-peso contract in the Philippines,” he said.

“Under the regime of Mrs. Arroyo, nothing happens by accident. The side trip to Colombia and the instant ties with Barbados are not spur of the moment decisions. Mrs. Arroyo needs to do some explaining when she returns.” Mrs. Arroyo is expected to arrive in Manila tomorrow.

Binay said Palace officials and the Department of Foreign Affairs admitted they were not aware of the presidential side trip to Colombia.

He said such secrecy also attended Mrs. Arroyo’s unannounced visit to Hainan on April 21, 2007 to personally witness the signing of the national broadband network (NBN) deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

“A Malacañang press statement issued at the time, where Mrs. Arroyo was described as coming and going like a thief in the night, said the secret trip resulted in Chinese investments totaling $904.38 million.”

The NBN-ZTE project was scrapped amidst controversy involving overpricing and fat commissions allegedly given or offered to government officials, including First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo.

“At the risk of repeating myself, I would like to ask, why Barbados, and why the rush to sign a diplomatic agreement with this island-state?” Binay said.

“Mrs. Arroyo seems to have been bitten by the Caribbean bug, and I wonder which of the attractions took her fancy. I guess the taxpayers would also like to know what benefits would be derived by entering into diplomatic ties with Barbados, and her side trip to Cartagena.”

Binay said Barbados is where Smartmatic, the foreign supplier for the poll automation project, is based.

He said until now, the identities of the company’s investors have not been revealed, although it has been reported that a company owned by a businessman with links to the Palace will handle the warehousing and distribution of the machines.

Foreign trips defended

Malacañang again defended Mrs. Arroyo’s foreign trips, saying the investments and aid secured there have helped cushion the effects of global economic crisis on the country.

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said attacks on Mrs. Arroyo’s trips could be politically motivated as elections near.

“Maybe let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re saying it out of concern but then again, we can’t avoid that this is a political season, and they can’t help but look for issues against the President,” Bello said.

He said the expenses he incurred in his trips to the Netherlands when he was still government peace negotiator with communist rebels that amounted to P28 million in four years is much lower than the price of an armored military vehicle.

“The cost of peace is nothing to the cost of war so we must look at these trips in terms of costs and benefits ratio,” Bello said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo is very conscious of the sentiments of the people, but she would not be deterred by unfounded criticisms of her foreign trips that would benefit the economy.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the President’s trips “have yielded more jobs for Filipinos, increased trade and investment, increased tourist arrivals and higher volumes and levels of development assistance.”

“The visits are international, but the beneficiaries are always the people of the Philippines,” Remonde said.

In Japan, the Philippines obtained various investment commitments and official development assistance, including over $1 billion guarantee for “samurai” bonds; $500 million for the expansion of the Light Rail Transit; and $4 billion for the construction of a hotel resort and convention complex from Aruze Corp., he said.

Remonde said the four-day, three-city trip to Brazil netted five signed agreements and a joint statement between the Department of Agriculture and the Brazilian Association of Girlondo Breeders.

He said Mrs. Arroyo met with officials of the Compania Vale da Rio Dose, a Brazilian mining firm that committed some P600 million for the exploration of gold and other mineral deposits in Masbate. – With Paolo Romero