GMA still an accused in broadband case

Saturday, 30 October

By Cris G. Odronia, Reporter

A MalacaÑang official on Friday said that if former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga has “nothing to hide,” then she should have “nothing to fear.”

On Thursday, the Sandiganbayan ruled that Mrs. Arroyo may not be compelled to testify on the botched national broadband network (NBN) deal between the Philippines and China’s ZTE Corp. in 2007.

But Palace deputy spokesman Abigail Valte urged the public to put the ruling in proper context, saying it was made on the basis that Mrs. Arroyo is an accused in the case.

“We expect to put it in the proper context because that ruling was made on the basis of the fact that congresswoman Arroyo is also one of those charged in that same case. So as an accused, she is accorded the right to not testify in her own behalf,” said Valte, a lawyer.

She added that under the rules of legal procedure, Mrs. Arroyo cannot be forced to testify.

“So that’s in accordance with legal procedures,” Valte said of the former president invoking her right to not incriminate herself in the aborted $330-million broadband deal.

When asked if the Palace would encourage Mrs. Arroyo to voluntarily testify in the case, the deputy spokesman replied, “Well, as with anything, if [anybody] has [nothing] to hide, then there is nothing to fear.”

Valte declined to comment further on the case so as not to preempt the findings of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan on the broadband controversy.

On Thursday, the Sandiganbayan ruled that Mrs. Arroyo be removed from the list of witnesses in the case.

Its Fourth Division, in a four-page resolution, granted the former leader’s motion to quash a subpoena issued to her to testify on the broadband controversy.

The Sandiganbayan ruled that Mrs. Arroyo cannot present herself as a witness because Section 12 (1) of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights stipulates, “Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent.”

The anti-graft court agreed with the stand of the former president’s counsel, lawyer Estelito Mendoza, who in his memorandum said that while his client is “without question” an accused person in connection with the $330-million deal, she still has the right to remain silent.