A Corruption Scandal, An Abduction Charge and the Removal of Speaker De Venecia
It’s all connected.
A few months ago, there were rumblings of a kickbacks scandal involving China’s ZTE Corp., which was to provide a broadband network connecting Philippine government offices. Jose “Joey” de Venecia III implicated First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in the deal. President Gloria Arroyo canceled the deal with ZTE, when the scandal snowballed.
The Senate launched an independent inquiry into the affair. One of the summoned witnesses, Philippine Forest Corp chief Rodolfo Lozada, arrived from Hong Kong just this week, and promptly disappeared. His family didn’t even see him emerge from the airport. Lozada has since resurfaced, with the government claiming that he was taken by the police, without informing him or his family beforehand, for his own safety.
Early this week, Jose De Venecia, the father of Joey de Venecia III, was ousted from his 12-year seat as House Speaker. The engineers of the ouster are said to be allies of President Arroyo.
On Thursday, President Arroyo ordered her own government inquiry into the original ZTE scandal.
Meanwhile, Lozada has linked the First Gentleman to the ZTE deal, along with former Commissions on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.
How do you think this affair will end?
Read more at:
Philippine speaker ousted by MPs, via BBC
Arroyo orders inquiry into Philippine kickbacks row | World | Reuters
Lozada links First Gentleman, Abalos to NBN deal, at Inquirer.net
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[...] kickbacks scandal that allegedly involves First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is brewing renewed calls for the resignation of [...]
hindi tama na mang-husga tayo kaagad ng tao
wala nang gnmga t
[...] Laura Brannigan’s “Gloria” is billed as a protest dance against comments made by Jun Lozada, the man who linked the First Gentleman to the scandal-laden ZTE deal. This is a protest dance by [...]