COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos threatens to sue the son of JDV

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. said that he will file charges against Jose de Venecia III for accusing him of attempted bribery.

Jose de Venecia III, also known as Joey, is the son of Jose de Venecia Jr. (JDV) and co-founder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI). According to him, Abalos tried to bribe him with $10 million to withdraw his company’s bid to bag the national broadband network (NBN) supply contract with the Department of Transportation and Communications where he immediately declined the money.

Meanwhile, the embattled Chairman Abalos stressed that he never offered any money to anybody to support the project and he is not even part of the broadband deal. He also said that he do not have $10 million to bribe the younger de Venecia.

The COMELEC chairman was indicted of brokering the deal on behalf of China’s ZTE Corp. He purportedly received generous gifts from ZTE officials, including women. Abalos, however, denied the allegations.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA)

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered her 50-minute, 7th State of the Nation Address (SONA) which was applauded 92 times.

While delivering her SONA, critics from outside the session hall organized a vigil rally simultaneously jeering the warm applause.

According to President Arroyo, she sees the Philippines “well on its way” to becoming a developed country by the end of her term in 2010, and proudly reports about the affordable medicines for Filipinos.

She insists lawmakers to pass stronger legislation that will penalize perpetrators of election-related violence, and a tougher punishment for political slayers. She also asked the Congress to help the legislation of a law that will provide more security to airports as she confidently announced the constructions of airports all over the country as part of her “super regions” project which she cleared that it’s not a gimmick. It aims to enhance economic growth of regional clusters. She also backed the Human Security Act (anti-terrorism law), which would target terrorists.

The government will finance a 1.7 trillion peso worth of medium-term projects and said that they (the government) will continue to heavily spend on infrastructure development to boost economic growth.

The president also said that the outsourcing industry is expected to bring one million jobs by the end of her term on 2010.

Bicol will now get its share of $50 million worth of projects to rehabilitate the region after it was devastated by calamities.

Arroyo wants the Philippines to become a first world nation in 20 years. And boasted that her successor will harvest the gains made by her administration which she achieved at great cost to her approval ratings. For her, Philippines is "on the right track".

For her critics her SONA is ‘Weak, boring, and without surprises’, for FVR (Fidel V. Ramos), it's "all promises".

Here's a copy of PGMA's SONA

ref: abs-cbnnews.com

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