Businessman to stand by his statements on CA bribery case
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 08/07/2008 12:30 AM
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Despite expressions of support for Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Jose Sabio, businessman Francis de Borja said Wednesday he is ready to affirm his statements on the bribery scandal before the three-man panel created by the Supreme Court (SC).
De Borja said he has high respect for the team of retired justices and is confident that they will be fair.
De Borja has denied Sabio's allegation that he offered him a P10-million bribe to drop the case at the Court of Appeals involving the battle for control of the country's largest power distribution firm between Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Instead, he countered that it was in fact the justice who asked for a P50-million bribe, a statement that had gotten many people to speak in Sabio's defense, including constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas and former Senate President Jovito Salonga.
Despite this, De Borja said he remains unperturbed, but he admitted the controversy has hurt his management consultancy business.
But what's most difficult, he said, is how the controversy has affected his wife and three children.
As De Borja prepares to give his testimony tomorrow, he said he will just tell his story and let the panel decide who's telling the truth.
SC panel starts probe
Members of the Supreme Court’s three-man panel have buckled down to work Wednesday in probing into the bribery controversy hounding the CA.
But the head of the panel, retired justice Carolina Aquino, was elusive to media.
After meeting for an hour, the panel decided to summon eight magistrates of the Court of Appeals linked to the allegedly irregular decision on the row between Meralco and the GSIS for a hearing on Thursday.
CA Justices Myrna Vidal and Sabio had complained before CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez that they were eased out of the case wherein the court ruled in favor of Meralco.
Sabio had also exposed an alleged P10-million bribe offer by a supposed emissary of Meralco.
The "ponente" of the decision, Justice Vicente Roxas, as well as Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Apolinario Bruselas who signed the decision, were also summoned.
No delays or postponements
SC spokesperson Atty. Midas Marquez said that the panel will investigate how a different division of the CA released the decision of the case, and how the magistrates involved came up with the decision.
CA Justices Martin Villarama and Edgardo Cruz, as well as Vasquez will also be facing the probe panel.
When asked what Vasquez expects from the investigation, he said he is only expecting the truth.
The SC panel wil be conducting their proceedings daily and said they cannot afford any delays or postponements.
"Two weeks ang binigay ng SC. We can't afford any motions for delay," Marquez added.
'Power play' in energy industry
Meanwhile, civil society group Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), in a statement Wednesday, said that the bribery scandal at the CA is merely an extension of a 'power play' in the power industry, specifically between the Lopez-controlled Meralco and the government, led by the GSIS.
"What we are witnessing right now is merely an extension of an ongoing power play in the power industry – with the Lopez empire staging a ‘counter-strike’ against the Palace’s backed ‘power-grab’ by Winston Garcia for control of Meralco," the statement said.
The FDC said that the the alleged bribery scandal hounding the CA extends beyond Meralco, as it is "corruption in the highest sense" borne out of the current power play in the industry.
The FDC said that the issue of corruption in the power industry is nothing new, and cited past power industry-related issues, such as those surrounding the contracts for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the 70s and 80s, the "onerous" contracts for independent power producers (IPPs) in the 1990s, the 'payola scandal' surrounding the Omnibus Power Bill in 1999, and the recent corruption issues around coal contracts of the National Power Corporation (Napocor).
"Corruption in the industry permeating through all three branches of government is now part of its anatomy, and successful industry players, past and present, have only thrived under a rent-seeking economic and political environment," the statement said.
'Struggle' for Lopezes, Arroyo cronies
The current scandal, the FDC said, is a "life-and-death struggle " for the Lopez family to "fortify" and "expand" their businesses, while "cronies" of the Arroyo administration - the FDC cites GSIS's Winston Garcia, the Aboitizes, and Ricky Razon of TransCo - are "out to gain strategic positions in the power industry."
In this conflict, however, the FDC said that the three branches of government "may not necessarily work to represent public interest," and in the end the people suffer in the "dirty power play" in the industry.
With this, the FDC is calling for the "complete overhaul" of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).
"The country cannot escape the obvious reality that the private sector’s primary objective in the power industry is to make profit at the soonest time possible and not to provide genuine public services at all times and at least cost," the statement said. With reports from Timi Nubla and Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN News
abs-cbnNEWS.com is the online news department of ABS-CBN Interactive Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. ABS-CBN and Meralco are part of the Lopez Group of Companies.
