GMA's ZTE cases go to Erap appointee

The criminal charges filed against Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her alleged involvement in the anomalous national broadband network (NBN) deal were raffled off yesterday to the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division chaired by Associate Justice Gregory Ong, an appointee of former President Joseph Estrada. Presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz, in the presence of other magistrates, supervised the drawing of numbered balls to determine which court will hear the cases. “The case of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, three cases, goes to the Fourth Division,” he later announced, with defense lawyers led by Arroyo’s counsel Jay Flaminiano and media as witnesses. After the raffle, Ong vowed to give no special treatment to Arroyo. “All cases here in the Sandiganbayan will be given the same treatment even if it involves the former president of the country,” he said. “We will treat this as an ordinary case like any other case pending before the Sandiganbayan,” said Ong, a former regional trial court (RTC) judge and former government prosecutor. Sandiganbayan executive clerk of court and spokesman Renato Bocar said a warrant of arrest against Arroyo and the other respondents, including former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former elections chief Benjamin Abalos Sr., and former transportation and communications secretary Leandro Mendoza may be issued within the next 10 days. He, however, added that if the magistrates of the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division find insufficient reason to proceed with the trial, they can also order the outright dismissal of the cases. “They have to do that within a period of 10 days,” he said, adding that the two graft cases and the third for violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees filed against Arroyo were raffled off to only one division of the Sandiganbayan because the cases arose from the same transactions, involve the same witnesses, and apparently the same set of documents. Strict but fair The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division headed by Ong has Associate Justices Jose Hernandez and Maria Cristina Cornejo as members. Ong’s court is known to be very strict but also very fair in its handling of cases, which is why lawyers appearing before it come prepared or face the possibility of being openly embarrassed. Ong even gave the media a taste of who he is yesterday when he turned down a request for him to hold the number four ball for a photo after the Arroyo cases were raffled off to his sala. “There is no need for me to be showing the number four,” he said before issuing a short statement on how the Arroyo cases will not be given special attention. STAR research show that Ong was appointed to the Sandiganbayan in 1998 by Estrada, who was convicted of plunder by a Special Division of the same court a few years later. Before becoming a Sandiganbayan magistrate, Ong was a Pasig RTC heinous crimes court judge for six years, appointed by former President Fidel Ramos in 1992. He started his legal career in government as a public prosecutor in Manila appointed by former President Corazon Aquino, the mother of President Aquino. Ong, 58, a product of the San Beda Law School, handled a number of controversial cases at the Sandiganbayan, including a perjury case against former military comptroller Carlos Garcia who was convicted but later acquitted by the Supreme Court (SC). He is also hearing a civil case against former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot, the separate graft case filed against Abalos also in relation to the NBN deal, and the walis tingting (broomstick) graft case of former Parañaque City mayor Joey Marquez, who was also convicted but again later cleared by the SC. Ong also became popular in 2007 after then president Arroyo appointed him to the Supreme Court, a move that was blocked because of issues concerning his citizenship. Though he was eventually declared a natural-born Filipino, he did not get to sit as an SC magistrate because his appointment papers had been returned to Malacañang. Hernandez and Cornejo, on the other hand, are Arroyo appointees who were appointed on March 9, 2004 and March 1, 2010, respectively. Objective trial Mr. Arroyo welcomed yesterday the raffling of the case against him and his wife to the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division. He said he expects a fair and objective trial before the Sandiganbayan. “I’m sure that Justice Ong is a very fair judge, as are the others in his division,” Mr. Arroyo told The STAR when sought for comment. He said he has not yet availed himself of the services of a lawyer for the NBN case but indicated that he is likely going to tap the expertise of Ferdinand Topacio, who earlier represented him and won the case of the watchlist order against the Department of Justice. He earlier said he was surprised that the Office of the Ombudsman filed the charges against him and his wife since the contract was cancelled. “That contract was abrogated so there’s no damage done,” Mr. Arroyo said. “Also why was she (Arroyo) charged, when she did not sign it (contract)?” Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño also welcomed the development and said he trusts that Ong “will handle the case with objectivity and fairness despite perceptions that he is favored by GMA (Arroyo’s initials), having been previously nominated by her to the Supreme Court.” Mendoza’s motion Meanwhile, hours after the cases were raffled, Mendoza filed an omnibus motion asking the Sandiganbayan to defer any further proceedings pending the resolution of a motion for reconsideration that he has filed before the Office of the Ombudsman. He said he has already been cleared of any liability in the resolution of the Ombudsman dated April 21, 2009 which recommended the first graft case against Abalos and former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Romulo Neri. Mendoza said the NBN deal with China’s ZTE Corp. is not “manifestly and grossly disadvantageous” to the government when compared to the offer of the losing bidder, Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI). “The ZTE contract was actually advantageous to the government, more so than AHI’s proposal, in terms of coverage, cost against deliverables, data security, track record of the proponent and other significant factors,” he said. He said the contract price rose from $262 million to $329 million “because of the significant expansion of its coverage and substantial increase in deliverables,” including 300 backbone stations, 30 network nodes, 300 base stations and 25,844 customer premises equipment, among others. “As regards track record, which is of fundamental importance particularly in projects of this scale, ZTE surpassed AHI immensely. ZTE is a recognized player in the integration of telecommunications systems and is the largest listed telecom in the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges. On the other hand, AHI is a holding company with no experience in telecommunications,” he said. Through his lawyers, Mendoza said he is also filing a motion for judicial determination of probable cause which should be heard if his motion for reconsideration is denied.