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Philippines elections chief quits
Real estate news By Aljazeera.net
Tuesday, Oct 02, 2007
The head of the Philippines elections commission has resigned amid allegations of his involvement in a high profile bribery scandal. Benjamin Abalos announced his decision on Monday after allegations surfaced that he tried to bribe a cabinet official and a businessman to secure a broadband contract with a Chinese company. His announcement just hours before before Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Philippine president, left Manila for a two-day visit to China aimed at boosting trade and political ties.
Last week an impeachment complaint was filed after the Philippine senate heard from Romulo Neri, the former socioeconomics secretary, that Abalos had offered him $4.4m to endorse the bid by China's Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. "Let not my detractors feast on this declaration" Benjamin Abalos, former Philippines elections chief ZTE has denied any irregularities but the government has suspended the $330m contract. The Chinese government has said that questions over the ZTE contract would not affect its growing business ties with the Philippines.
Also last week, a Philippine businessman, Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, whose company Amsterdam Holdings Inc lost the Chinese bid, told a senate hearing that Abalos had offered him $10m to withdraw his own broadband proposal. Lawyers for Abalos said he would sue de Venecia and Neri for damages and file an additional complaint of perjury against Neri for allegedly lying under oath during the senate hearing which was televised nationally.
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