| Arroyo rejects plea bargain agreement in graft case |
Manolo B Jara
MANILA Insisting on her innocence, former Philippines president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has rejected any attempt to enter into a plea bargain agreement regarding the graft complaint on two counts filed against her for the scandal-wracked award of a $330m government contract to a Chinese firm to set up a national broadband network.
“President Arroyo is not open to any plea bargain,” her defence lawyers said in a document filed before a special anti-graft court known as the Sandiganbayan.
“She maintains her innocence,” the document added, “and stands by her not guilty plea.”
Legal experts explained that by agreeing to a plea bargain, Arroyo would plead guilty to a lesser offence so she could escape the bigger penalty imposed by the court if she is convicted of graft.
But her lawyers said Arroyo, now a congresswoman for her home province of Pampanga in Central Luzon, is determined to face trial and prove her innocence in court.
The case arose from the award of a $330m government contract to a Chinese firm ZTE Corporation to set up a national broadband network amid accusations that it was overpriced and allegedly attended by corruption that lined the pockets of government officials and influential individuals like lawyer Jose Miguel ‘Mike’ Arroyo, the former president’s husband.
Aside from graft, Arroyo was also indicted before a Metro Manila regional court for electoral sabotage for her alleged involvement in massive vote tampering to benefit her senatorial candidates in the May 2007 polls.
Although poll fraud is a non-bailable offence, the court, however, granted a $20,000 cash bail to Arroyo, saying the evidence presented against her government lawyers was “weak” and “insufficient.”
Oman Tribune
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