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EVEN as
the Supreme Court said Wednesday it will continue to
take up the petitions of Iloilo Vice Gov.Rolex Suplico
and Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI) seeking to declare
unconstitutional the $330-billion national broadband
network deal with China’s ZTE Co., the Solicitor General
declared government’s intention to have them dismissed
for being moot and academic.
“The
court will continue with the deliberations on the
petitions against the ZTE contract unless it is
manifested in court that it has been canceled,” said
court spokesman Midas Marquez.
This
developed after President Arroyo scrapped the
controversial contract on Tuesday, begging for
understanding of her difficult decision in her meeting
with President Hu Jintao during her state visit to
China.
In
Manila, Acting Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera said
since the project has been stopped, there is no more
issue to be resolved.
“I am
just waiting for the formal notice from the Palace
regarding the cancellation because as everybody knows,
there is a case before the SC and there is a TRO
[temporary restraining order], so if it has been
canceled, there is nothing to be TROed anymore.”
But what
appears still to be valid, and not as moot as advanced
by some, is Benjamin Abalos Sr.’s still being a member
of the Commission on Elections, of which he is chairman.
Former
senator Francisco S. Tatad said the Abalos resignation
is “bogus” and urged the House to push through with the
impeachment.
“There
appears to be no record of Chairman Benjamin Abalos of
the Commission on Elections having submitted a formal
written letter of resignation to President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and of her having accepted such
resignation, thereby rendering questionable the veracity
of his announced resignation.”
Tatad,
who chairs the Philippine Democratic Caucus and the
Citizens vs. Corruption Task Force, referred to the
published statement of presidential legal counsel Sergio
Apostol, that Abalos will be on terminal leave until his
compulsory retirement on
February 8, 2008. “[This] confirms the fact that Abalos has not
resigned, and that there is no factual or legal basis
for the House of Representatives to abandon the
impeachment complaint against the Comelec chief.”
A formal
letter of resignation is required and must be accepted
by the President. “Otherwise, the announced resignation,
which Malacañang wants now to translate into a mere
terminal leave of absence, is completely bogus, and he
would have succeeded in playing the entire nation for
fools,” added Tatad.
Earlier,
the SC issued a temporary restraining order enjoining
the implementation of the NBN deal following AHI and
Suplico’s filing of the petition on August 1, alleging
the deal is unconstitutional having violated RA 9184 or
the Government Procurement Act, which requires that all
public- procurement activities must be done through
public bidding.
Suplico
further claimed the NBN deal violated the
build-operate-transfer law which requires that in case
of unsolicited proposals, “no direct guarantee, subsidy
or equity is required.”
Devanadera said as soon as she receives the notice, she
would file a manifestation informing the High Tribunal
about the scrapping of the NBN deal and at the same time
praying for the dismissal of the case for being moot.
“As soon
as I get the formal notice regarding the cancellation, I
will have to make the manifestation to the Supreme Court
because if that has been cancelled, there is no TRO
anymore. If the subject matter is not there anymore, the
case will be dismissed and we will manifest that,” she
said.
The
other day, Devanadera submitted to the SC government’s
reply. In the comment to Suplico’s and AHI’s petitions,
Devanadera reiterated the NBN deal with the ZTE is
actually advantageous to government.
She said
the ZTE’s proposal emerges the cheapest when overall
project cost is matched against the other proponents.
At the
Senate, which is investigating the NBN deal, senators
heaved a collective sigh of relief over President
Arroyo’s scrapping of the controversial ZTE-broadband
contract after consulting Chinese officials, who earlier
agreed to bankroll the project. |
