The Office of the Ombudsman has recommended the filing of graft charges against former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and incumbent Social Security System president Romulo Neri in connection with the botched $329.4-million ZTE-national broadband deal.

The Ombudsman, however, cleared all the others charged in the case, including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Malacanang expressed satisfaction about the Ombudsman decision.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said there was no strong evidence to prove that the First Couple committed any wrongdoing when the government forged a broadband project with China’s ZTE Corporation a few years ago.

“We are happy because ever since that has been our stand, what we have been saying. We are glad that this happened in a proper forum like the Ombudsman where parties were allowed to present evidence to determine the truth behind the issue,” Fajardo said in reaction to reports that the First Couple was cleared of graft charges.

Fajardo also dispelled doubts that the First Couple was cleared due to Mr. Arroyo’s close relations with yan,” she said in a radio interview, adding that the concerns raised by some groups about the VFA should undergo the proper process.

Fajardo added it will be “unfair” and “not right” to scrap the VFA when Gadian has yet to prove her allegations against the US troops.

“Mahirap naman na magpapabigla-bigla tayo ng desisyon na we will just decide na i-scrap ang VFA na ang basehan natin ay iyong alegasyon ni Lt. Gadian. These are very serious allegations at dapat talaga nating tingnan kung itong mga sinasabi ay talagang makatotohanan,” she said.

Senator Miriam Santiago and other senators have moved for the immediate abrogation of the VFA amid reports that US troops are engaging in combat while on Philippine soil.

Santiago, chairman of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA and the Senate foreign relations committee, earlier called a congressional hearing into reports that Washington decided to keep its 600-member Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines. Gadian, in a Senate hearing, claimed that US soldiers were embedded with Filipino troops in combat operations in Mindanao.

Col. David Maxwell, commander of the special US task force, has also reportedly admitted that US troops have engaged in battle in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda added her voice to calls for an investigation and possible into alleged violations of the VFA by US troops.

“Violations of the terms and provisions of the VFA, if true, should warrant its scrapping,” said Legarda,
one of the senators who opposed the ratification of the VFA when it was presented for Senate approval a decade ago.

She said reports of alleged involvement by US troops in military operations persist and are lent credence by photographs showing them patrolling and securing areas in Jolo, Sulu where American aid grants had been distributed.

“There is a thin line between going into patrol and actual battle as far as these American soldiers are concerned. The photos showed them fully armed and being in harm’s way, meaning they could have easily found themselves in a firefight.”

Legarda said that the governments of the Philippines and the US must strictly follow the provisions of the VFA because any violation would infringe on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines.

“When I opposed the VFA, it was because the government cannot allow foreign forces to be operating in our country,” she said. “We have more than enough able personnel from the AFP and the PNP to take care of ensuring our internal security.”

Legarda said that, at most, US soldiers under the VFA must engage only in training exercises and advisory activities. (With a report from Rolly Carandang)