Sandigan acquits Abalos in ZTE case

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has acquitted former poll chief Benjamin Abalos Sr. in one of the graft cases filed against him involving the national broadband network (NBN) deal between the government and China’s ZTE Corp. in 2007.

Magistrates of the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division said the Office of the Ombudsman, which filed the criminal complaint in 2010, failed to prove the guilt of Abalos beyond reasonable doubt.

Abalos was accused of violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which supposedly prevented him from “directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest.”

The Office of the Ombudsman said Article 9 (2) of the 1987 Constitution also prohibits “any member of a Constitutional Commission from being financially interested, directly or indirectly, in any franchise or privilege granted by the government.”

Abalos, who served as chairman of the Commission on Elections, was charged for allegedly brokering for ZTE to cut the NBN deal in exchange for a commission or fee.

Then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo eventually scrapped the $329-million transaction after whistle-blowers led by Rodolfo Lozada Jr. came out and revealed the supposed anomalies surrounding the transaction.

In its decision acquitting Abalos in the graft charge where he is the lone defendant, the Sandiganbayan cited the testimonies of witnesses that included businessman Jose de Venecia III.

De Venecia said he had no knowledge when he was asked if Abalos was receiving kickbacks from ZTE.

“All in all, the evidence only proved that accused was brokering the collaboration between AHI (Amsterdam Holdings Inc.) and ZTE, where ZTE would supply equipment to AHI while AHI would contract with the Philippine government for the operation of the NBN,” the anti-graft court explained.

“It was not able to establish that he brokered the signed contract between ZTE and the Philippine government and that he did so for a fee,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The court said the failure of the prosecution to sufficiently establish its allegation that Abalos brokered for ZTE for a fee in the NBN-ZTE contract “has rendered moot the legal issue on whether the alleged act constitutes the offense defined under RA 3019(h).”

The Sandiganbayan, in its 43-page ruling, concluded that Abalos should be acquitted “for failure of the prosecution to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”

Lozada, reacting to the acquittal of Abalos, said he can’t think of what to actually say about the Sandiganbayan decision.

“I cannot even say whose failure it is. I think the systems really allowed this thing to happen,” Lozada said in a statement.

“It will be a sad day for justice in this country again,” he said.

While Abalos has been cleared in the decided case, he is still facing separate graft charges stemming from the NBN-ZTE deal with Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and the late transportation secretary Leandro Mendoza as co-accused.

In February last year, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court acquitted Abalos of charges of two counts of electoral sabotage, while another Pasay court also dismissed 11 counts of the same charges for lack of evidence.

The dismissed cases were in connection with alleged cheating during the 2007 midterm elections in Maguindanao and Cotabato provinces in Mindanao.

Abalos said he was elated by the Sandiganbayan decision acquitting him.

“It was a mixed emotion. I cannot help myself but cried when the verdict was read. I was also happy that justice has prevailed,” he said. – With Perseus Echeminada