A Philippine public official at the center of a major bribe scandal involving a state-owned Chinese company resigned yesterday amid growing controversy over a US$330 million Internet broadband deal.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos said his resignation was not an admission of guilt but was intended to spare Comelec from further controversy over the deal.
Abalos said he had not discussed his decision with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and said his resignation would "negate the accusation that this administration is out to protect me and my incumbency."
Arroyo suspended the project on Sept. 22 as the controversy threatened to implicate her husband in the deal.
Interior secretary Ronaldo Puno congratulated Abalos for his decision, saying "he's thinking about the institution."
He denied Abalos, considered an ally of Arroyo's, was resigning as a "sacrificial lamb" to save the administration from being further dragged into the controversy.
Last week, a former Cabinet secretary told a Senate hearing that Abalos tried to bribe him to ensure that the US$330 million broadband contract would go to ZTE Corp.
This echoed accusations by a rival bidder that ZTE had won the contract partly through Abalos's brokering.
In light of the accusations an impeachment complaint was filed against Abalos in the House of Representatives.
Abalos has denied any guilt and accused the Senate of treating him unfairly.
"I am willing to face any and all charges that would be filed against me," Abalos said, adding that his resignation showed he was not using the Comelec office to shield himself.
He also said his "crusade" to clear his name would continue and his lawyer said he would be filing damage suits against those who accused him.
Abalos, a former local politician, has long been a controversial figure in Philippine politics and has been accused of using his position to help benefit certain candidates.
The broadband deal with ZTE -- signed by Arroyo in April in Hainan, China -- was to set up a national broadband network for the exclusive use of the Philippine government and its agencies.
But it was suspended after allegations in the Philippine media and the country's Senate of supposed government incompetence, corruption and nepotism.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Forecasters in Europe yesterday warned of exceptional heat as record temperatures driven by a “heat dome” push temperatures well above seasonal norms across the continent. The surge follows a record-breaking Monday, with France logging its hottest day in the month of May on record, its weather agency said, and the UK also posting unprecedented highs. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Restrictions on outdoor work were imposed in parts of Italy, beaches in southwest France filled earlier than usual and
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS