Senate to probe graft charges against Arroyo's husband

The Philippines Senate will investigate allegations by a once confidante of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that the leader's husband had received a bribe to lobby for a contract between the government and an unnamed international telecommunications firm.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that they will ask Veronica Rodrigo, a former appointments secretary to Arroyo, to shed light into her allegations that the President's husband Miguel Arroyo and three others were alleged to have accepted money to overturn a termination of a contract issued last year by then president Joseph Estrada on a multi-billion peso agreement between the government and the telecommunications firm involving the setting up of telephone lines in rural areas.

The money was said to have come from Jaime Dichavez, a former crony of Estrada who is reported to represent the interest of foreign telecoms firms who want to get contracts with the Philippine government. Dichavez, who was incensed by Estrada's order to terminate the contract and turned against his former patron.

Rodrigo on the other hand, is a high school classmate of Arroyo. She had said on radio on Friday that she resigned abruptly after she was accused of taking a bribe and failing to facilitate the revival of the contract, which Estrada rescinded last year along with several other similar deals, when it was found out that the agreement would be disadvantageous to the government.

The project to install telephones in rural areas would require and estimate P62 billion ($1.1 billion) spread over several years, an amount which even then, the government cannot afford. "We will look into it," Pimentel said, adding "We must investigate those who must be investigated."
Miguel Arroyo, a lawyer, has been receiving criticism lately for his off-the-cuff statements regarding matters which are better left to government.

Pimentel also said they will look into the allegation of Arroyo's husband last week that deposed president Joseph Estrada had paid some military generals to destabilise the new government.
Arroyo did not elaborate on his allegation and he did not name the officers concerned. Pimentel, however, added that a probe of Arroyo did not necessarily mean the senators believed Rodrigo's allegation. "It would depend on the evidence," he said.

Arroyo also claimed of getting rude treatment from his wife's former secretary following the revelations. He claimed that Rodrigo called him up on July 17 and cursed and banged the phone on him. "She cursed me and she banged the phone on me," he said.

President Arroyo, during an interview by a radio station absolved her husband from the accusation. She said if her husband was involved, he should not have used Rodrigo. "He should have lobbied with me. But he never did," she said.