THE FIRST FAMILY
PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
The Arroyos have weathered allegations that range from keeping secret bank accounts to getting money from illegal gambling.
From overpriced highways to secret bank accounts, to gambling lords and thoroughbred horses, controversies have hounded the Arroyo administration long before wiretapped conversations implying election fraud hogged the headlines.
And it is not only the president who has more than once been asked to account for charges of improper behavior; so too have husband Mike, eldest child Mikey, and brother-in-law Ignacio Arroyo.
IMPSA
Four days after it assumed office, the Arroyo administration approved the awarding of a controversial $470-million contract to the Argentine firm IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima) to rehabilitate a hydroelectric plant in Laguna. Justice Secretary Hernando Perez was later accused of demanding and receiving $2 million dollars from ex-Rep. Mark Jimenez, who brokered the deal. Jimenez said he wired the amount to the account of Ernest Escaler in Hong Kong on Feb. 23, 2001 from his bank in Uruguay. The former congressman was later extradited to the United States, where he had to serve a two-year jail term for federal election fraud and tax evasion.
SAN FRANCISCO
From the time she was first elected senator in 1992 up to 2004, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had failed to declare in her sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth the properties her husband, Jose Miguel ‘Mike’ Arroyo, bought in San Francisco through his California-based LTA Realty Corp. In 2003, Newsbreak reported that Mr. Arroyo acquired, resold, and managed at least five properties with a total value of at least $7.1 million in the Bay City from 1992 to 2000. The First Couple said they bought the properties in trust for Mike Arroyo’s younger brother, Ignacio or Iggy, now a congressman.
BONG PINEDA President Arroyo has been questioned about her personal connection with alleged jueteng boss Bong Pineda: She is godmother to one of Pineda’s sons. She has denied any impropriety, saying she doesn’t associate with Pineda or his crowd. In an interview with Time magazine in 2001, she said that when she was asked to be ninang, she sought and received counsel from Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin. Recalled Arroyo: “Cardinal Sin said, as a Christian, if I am asked to be a godmother, it is my Christian duty, because the sins of the father are not the sins of the son.”
MACAPAGAL BOULEVARD
In the middle of 2002, Sulpicio Tagud Jr., then board director of the Public Estates Authority (PEA), blew the whistle on what he said was the overpricing by over P600 million of the construction of the 5.1-kilometer President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard at the Manila Bay reclamation area. First approved during the Estrada administration, contracts for constructing the highway were allocated to three companies: Shoemart Inc. (one portion), DM Wenceslao (one portion), and Jesusito D. Legaspi Construction (JDLC for the remaining three portions). A series of supplemental contracts with JDLC were later approved by the PEA board under the Arroyo administration, increasing the original approved cost of their section of the highway. Tagud did his investigations and found that while the SM group of companies constructed its part of the boulevard at a cost of P54,000 per lineal meter, JDLC built its section at P302,000 per lineal meter.
PIATCO
The construction of the 1.1-km-long, four-storey Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) has been riddled with controversies. Some of these were inherited by the Arroyo administration, while others were allegedly of its own doing. In May 2003 opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara accused Malacañang of trying to extort, through the Villaraza law office, some $20 million from Fraport, the German firm with a 30-percent stake in Piatco, in exchange for legal favor. But the Piatco scandal is a long running one. It figured prominently during the confirmation hearings for Arroyo-appointed Transportation Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez in 2002. Alvarez was alleged to have obtained an overpriced subcontract for one of the public works projects related to the airport terminal. In exchange, Alvarez, while transportation secretary, was reported to have given the firm “onerous” advantages. Piatco was also accused of paying since June 2001 huge sums of money to a public relations consultant, Alfonso S. Liongson, an associate of the First Gentleman, for getting signatures of officials for either permits or supplementary agreements to its contract with the government. Liongson reportedly used part of the money to bribe officials for their signatures. The terminal was finally mothballed in 2003 when President Arroyo revoked Piatco’s build-operate-transfer contract. In December 2004 the government took over the airport, after the Supreme Court affirmed the contract’s revocation. It remains unopened.
MIKEY’S HORSES
Newsbreak in August 2003 broke the news on a plan of presidential son Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to import 32 thoroughbred horses from Melbourne, Australia. The then Pampanga vice governor, now a congressman, denied the allegation. He admitted, though, that he was in the horse-trade business. The young Arroyo owns Franchino Farms along with cousin Franchino Pamintuan and friend Ralph Mondragon.
JOSE PIDAL
On Aug. 18, 2003, opposition senator Panfilo Lacson accused First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo of money laundering for supposedly siphoning off at least P321 million in campaign funds and contributions and putting these in a secret bank account under the fictitious name Jose Pidal and in three other accounts using the names of his aides. Among the “donors,” Lacson said, was then Rep. Mark Jimenez who contributed a total of P8 million. Lacson also accused Mr. Arroyo of having an affair with his accountant, Victoria Toh. Following Lacson’s allegations, Mr. Arroyo’s younger brother, now congressman Ignacio or Iggy, came forward to say he is Jose Pidal.
AGRI FUND
The First Gentleman was linked in May 2004 to the alleged diversion of P728 million from the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program to President Arroyo’s campaign war chest in the form of development assistance funds to local government units. Then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn I. Bolante, Mr. Arroyo’s classmate at the Ateneo de Manila University and a colleague at the Rotary Club District 3830, cleared the First Gentleman of involvement. Bolante was tasked to oversee the implementation of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani program at the time.
PHILHEALTH CARDS
Six weeks before the May 2004 elections, two lawyers from PRO-CON(stitution) filed a disqualification case against President Arroyo before the Comelec, saying she was behind the enhanced Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Greater Medicare Access or GMA program, which they claimed was meant to prop up her candidacy. Earlier, another PRO-CON lawyer filed a criminal suit, also before the Comelec, against then PCSO chief Maria Livia “Honeygirl” de Leon and PhilHealth president (now Health Secretary) Francisco T. Duque III for vote buying, intervention of a public officer, using public funds for election purposes and using banned election propaganda. Public funds were allegedly spent to enroll families in PhilHealth for one year to induce the enrollees to vote for President Arroyo. The premium cost of P1,200 for each family member was chargeable to PhilHealth and the PCSO.?The PhilHealth identification cards bore the President’s picture and the name. Their distribution coincided with the start of the election campaign.
LAS VEGAS SUITE
The First Gentleman was the subject of another controversy over his alleged use of a $20,000-a-night suite at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada during the boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Mexico’s Erick Morales last March 19. The story first appeared as a blind item in the March 23 column of Inquirer sports columnist Recah Trinidad, who wrote that a “heavyweight backer” of Pacquiao had stayed in a $20,000-suite at the MGM Grand. Mr. Arroyo would later say he did not see anything corrupt about accepting the generous offer of a free luxury suite from the hotel, arguing that his stature as the husband of a head of state entitled him to such perks.
JUETENG (AGAIN)
In Senate hearings on the illegal numbers game that began in May 2005, jueteng operators and bagmen said the President’s husband Mike, her son Mikey, and her brother-in-law Ignacio or Iggy were among those who received monthly payoffs from gambling lords. The payoffs supposedly ranged from P500,000 to P1 million. One of the witnesses, businesswoman Sandra Cam, testified that in December 2004, she personally delivered the cash to Mikey (in a gift-wrapped package) and Iggy (in an envelope) at the House of Representatives. The deliveries were supposedly made on the instructions of retired Chief Supt. Restituto Mosqueda, former police director for Bicol and alleged protector of jueteng operations in Luzon. On June 8, the President ordered the Department of Justice to investigate her son and brother-in-law, saying, “Nobody in my family or kin are above the law and no investigator or prosecutor could fear to uphold the law against them. I will stand for justice no matter who gets hurt.” The Office of the Ombudsman has since taken over the DOJ investigation. Both Mikey and Iggy, meanwhile, have sued Cam for libel.
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Finance chief faces syndicated, large-scale smuggling raps
12/08/2007 Daily Tribune
A multimillion-peso large-scale and syndicated smuggling suit was filed yesterday against Finance Secretary Margarito Teves for allegedly causing the government at least P373-million losses in tax revenues.
Ruben Anthony Frogoso, an intelligence officer at the Department of Finance's Cen-tral Management Information Office, in a complaint filed at the Manila Prosecutor?s Office, said he sued Teves and other high-ranking DoF officials for
allegedly granting a tax-free importation permit to a large shipment of generator sets after it was already seized by the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
According to him, on April 10, 2007, the first shipment of the five units of imported generator sets and three units of transformers from Singapore-based Aggreko Pte Ltd. by the NPC Alliance Corp. (NPC) arrived at the Subic Bay Free Port.
Upon the arrival of the shipment and the filing of entry, the BoC found out that it was grossly undervalued at 98 percent discrepancy.
The BoC immediately ordered the seizure of the shipment.
NPC Alliance, however, asked the DoF to grant it a tax-free importation permit.
The request was granted, thus, depriving the government of P373 million in tax revenues, Frogoso noted.
He said the redemption value of the shipment and the issuance of tax exemption by the DoF are illegal since the shipment was already seized.
Frogoso noted that despite the harassment and threats from Teves and other DoF officials, he decided to file a complaint, saying he could no longer just ignore "the anomalies and corrupt practices committed by the same people who should protect the institutions they lead and safeguard the public's interests against graft and corruption."
"I could no longer stomach what is going on in our department and I am ready to face all the consequences of my actions in the interest of the public," he stressed.
"We should stop all these corrupt practices which are tearing our nation and people," he added.
Frogoso, who said he is willing to bring his case even up to the Supreme Court, also called on President Arroyo to act on the matter.
"The government is trying to increase its revenues and a case like this should not be allowed. I also believe the President will not tolerate this to happen," he said in an interview with reporters.
Also named as respondents in the 20-page complaint-affidavit are Gaudencio Mendoza, DoF undersecretary and head of the Revenue Operations Group; Eleazar Cesista, head of the Revenue Express Lane; Rowena Salido, assistant chief of the Customs and Tariffs Division and supervisory tax specialist; Elizabeth Santos, senior tax specialist; Karim Khatami, finance officer of NPC Alliance Corp.; and Rowena Farin, general manager of Globelink Brokerage Services. Allan A. Bergonia
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Mass action vs GMA’s ‘morally bankrupt gov’t’ set; bishops renew resign call
11/29/2007 Daily Tribune
Religious leaders, lawmakers, opposition personalities and leaders of civil society have called on the Filipino people to restore integrity in governance by doing away with the “morally bankrupt” administration as three bishops reiterated their call for President Arroyo’s resignation.
The Movement for the Restoration of Integrity in Governance headed by Bishops Julio Labayen of Infanta, Antonio Tobias (Novaliches) and Deogracias Iñiguez (Caloocan City), in a statement yesterday, claimed the President has lost “moral ascendancy and integrity” to continue leading the country.
They noted that the years under Mrs. Arroyo’s rule have gone from bad to worse.
“The Filipino people do not deserve a government that has turned against them from the start. The Filipino people’s long suffering was made more severe in six years under GMA’s rule. The record of this administration is replete with betrayal after betrayal of the people’s trust and sovereign will,” the bishops stressed.
The prelates added corruption and repression of democratic, civil and human rights have become the trademark of the Arroyo government.
“The anomalous deals it had entered into in the name of the people are bringing disasters that are far-reaching and long-lasting than natural calamities,” they said.
Despite its alienation from the people, the Arroyo administration, however, is obstinately holding on to power, which it wields by seer force, circumvention of legal and judicial processes, deception, outright bribery and corruption of whole government institutions, the prelates said.
They added it is the right of sovereign people to seek and work for meaning changes as the Arroyo administration “has lost grounds to govern.”
Tobias, in a press conference also yesterday, reiterated his call for Chief Justice Reynato Puno to head a transition government should the President and administration officials heed calls of resignation.
“We want reforms in the government…a caretaker govern-ment under civilian rule or under Puno. This is the great divide,” he stressed.
The bishops and other opposition groups, in a signed manifesto, also called for a “gathering for truth and justice” at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on Friday and urged participants to “do what is right for your country.”
Apart from Labayen, Tobias and Iñiguez, other signatories include Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Angel Lagdameo, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Solito Toquero of the United Methodist Church, Eliezer Pascua of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Godofredo David of Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), Fr. Jose Dizon and Sharon Rose Joy Duremdes of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.
Supporters of former President Joseph Estrada, including Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Ver Eustaquio and Jose Alcuaz, militant leaders Romeo Capulong and Argee Guevarra also signed the statement and ready to join the mass action on Nov. 30.
“We cannot allow the pain and ruin of the Filipino people. We cannot have a nation without a soul, governance without morality. We must unite! We must struggle for truth! For justice! For meaningful and fundamental change!” the statement stressed.
The group said when Mrs. Arroyo took presidency in 2001, she proclaimed that she would usher in good governance, leadership by example and assure transparency.
“We are now in the seventh year of this presidency that has instead reaped pain and ruin for our nation and people,” it noted.
The anti-Arroyo forces said they are “pained by the extra-judicial killings and enforced disap-pearances which have heightened despite the fact that this pattern of abuse was brought to the attention of the president early on, long before the outcry of concerned international officials and organizations condemned them before the world.”
“Billions of pesos had also been shamelessly diverted to serve Mrs. Arroyo’s personal political interests, including the ‘abrasive’ diversion of fertilizer funds,” the group lamented.
It also scored the bludgeoning of demonstrators by police and military men “misled and emboldened by an erroneous calibrated preemptive response policy.”
The group also tackled the anomalies in the ZTE-National Broadband Network project, and the cash-gifts controversy now facing the administration.
“Worse, our values have been degraded, our collective integrity blighted by the wanton examples of bribery, graft and corruption. Parents cannot adequately answer the questions of their own children — about the ZTE, how much bribes are involved, why?” it said.
“They cannot answer how come congressmen and governors receive so much money? Who are guilty? Why do they go unpunished? What kind of justice do we have?” it added.
By Allan Bergonia and Tribune wires
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