IMPEACH RAPS VS COMELEC CHIEF ABALOS REJECTED BY HOUSE

IMPEACH RAPS VS COMELEC CHIEF ABALOS REJECTED BY HOUSE

MANILA, February 17, 2006 (START) The House of Representatives rejected yesterday an impeachment complaint filed by Marcos loyalist lawyer Oliver Lozano against Chairman Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). House secretary general Roberto Nazareno refused to accept the complaint since it had not been endorsed by at least one member of the chamber as required by its rules on impeachment.

This prompted Lozano to just leave a copy of his petition and a note to Nazareno, in which he claimed that the secretary general’s refusal to receive his complaint "is equivalent to receipt." "Receiving is ministerial. My complaint versus Abalos is deemed filed. But it is better if you receive it," he wrote the House official. Lozano reminded him that last year, Nazareno accepted the impeachment complaint that he filed against President Arroyo even though it was not endorsed by a House member. He said the resolution of endorsement signed by Rep. Rodante Marcoleta of the party-list group Alagad came a few days later.

Lozano said the House had also accepted impeachment petitions filed by lawyer Ellie Pamatong against Vice President Noli de Castro and Abalos even though these lacked endorsements. Lozano’s complaint against the Comelec chairman was in connection with the poll body’s P1-billion contract for vote-counting machines, which the Supreme Court earlier voided for being fraud-tainted. Abalos, for his part, belittled the filing of the impeachment complaint against him by Lozano.

"It is his right to file the complaint but I am very, very confident that it will not merit the consideration of Congress because I have not done anything wrong," Abalos said. The Comelec chairman maintained there was no overpricing on the contract since the poll body was able to purchase the voided automated counting machines (ACMs) at only P1.2 billion.

"How could there be overpricing when the price ceiling set by the agency was P1.3 billion and we are able to get the ACM at only P1.2 billion? When you say overpriced, it means beyond the ceiling," Abalos explained. Abalos claimed the ceiling price for the counting machines was set by his predecessor Alfredo Benipayo and the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel). Benipayo, now the solicitor general, had earlier accused the Comelec under the leadership of Abalos of forging a contract with Mega Pacific despite knowledge that it was overpriced by as much as P500 million. The Supreme Court had ordered the Office of the Ombudsman to file the necessary charges against Comelec officials responsible for the deal.

Earlier this week, the high court asked Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to explain why her office had failed to charge Comelec officials. The Marcos lawyer, on the other hand, suffered an earlier legal setback when he re-filed last year’s opposition-drafted impeachment complained against Mrs. Arroyo. Nazareno’s office accepted the complaint. However, a day later, upon orders from Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Nazareno returned the petition because it lacked an endorsement from a House member.

BIR regional director faces unexplained wealth charges By Des Ferriols And Mike Frialde The Philippine Star 02/17/2006

A ranking official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has been charged before the Office of the Ombudsman for unexplained wealth, in violation of provisions of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The Department of Finance (DOF) reported yesterday that it had filed a formal complaint against Marina de Guzman, the chief revenue officer of the BIR revenue region 7 in Quezon City.

According to Finance Undersecretary Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., the case was filed through the Revenue Integrity Protection Service, an inter-agency anti-graft body formed to serve as an internal watchdog against corrupt revenue officials. Mendoza reported that based on her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, De Guzman’s net worth increased steadily from P1.8 million in 1994 to P11.4 million in 2004.

"This is an increase of about P1 million a year when her annual salary based on her latest service record was only P256,116," Mendoza said.

"The substantial properties, frequent expensive foreign travels and significant increases in her net worth give rise to the presumption that she acquired unexplained wealth which is manifestly out of proportion (to) her lawful gross income," Mendoza said.

According to Mendoza, De Guzman also faced other possible charges under the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees as well as the Revised Penal Code. Mendoza said De Guzman could also be sued under the law allowing the state to forfeit any property found to have been unlawfully acquired by a public officer or employee.

"The penalty for these violations could range from removal from office, perpetual disqualification to hold public office and forfeiture of properties in favor of the government," Mendoza said. "It could also include imprisonment of not less than six months and up to 14 years."

Mendoza said De Guzman’s case was only one of many cases that the Revenue Integrity Protection Service was building against other government officials and employees found to be violating anti-graft laws.

Earlier, the DOF dismissed seven government officials including five revenue collectors on charges of grave misconduct, dishonesty and other offenses, officials revealed over the weekend. The dismissals came as foreign credit rating agencies said the Arroyo administration needed to do more to demonstrate that it was capable of delivering its target revenue collection, balancing the national budget and ultimately reducing public sector debt to manageable levels. Affirming an earlier decision by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Local Government Finance, the DOF said it had dismissed five BIR collectors, a BIR lawyer and a municipal treasurer.

Dismissed from service were revenue collection officers Ferdinand Magallanes (Tuguegarao, Cagayan); Jolynda Frio (Iloilo City); Mario Bermejo (Calbirga and Pinabacdao, Western Samar); Habib Wahab (Pagalungan, Maguindanao); and Dina Neri (Cebu City).

The Arroyo administration is struggling to rein in a burgeoning budget deficit that economic analysts warn could derail the government’s anti-poverty program. The government has implemented a 12-percent expanded value-added tax, which is the centerpiece of Mrs. Arroyo’s fiscal reforms intended to forestall a looming Argentina-style fiscal crisis. Mrs. Arroyo also implemented measures to reduce spending and red tape, as well as a crackdown on corruption, tax evasion and smuggling. A former Arroyo Cabinet official, movie stars, basketball players and other celebrities were among slapped with tax evasion charges in the crackdown. Rampant tax evasion, corruption, bloated state subsidies and protectionism have been blamed for the government’s fiscal woes.

Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi

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