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Mr Lozada (above) said he was sent abroad to avoid giving evidence at the hearing where Arroyo's husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and political ally Benjamin Abalos have been implicated. -- PHOTO: AP
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MANILA - A FORMER official who has accused the husband and a political ally of Philippines President Gloria Arroyo of corruption on Monday produced bundles of money he said were used to try to buy his silence.
'I am returning this because I failed to do my part of the bargain,' Rodolfo Lozada said during a public Senate hearing that is investigating corruption allegations involving huge bribes over a failed national broadband deal.
Mr Lozada handed over a large brown envelope containing five bundles of cash worth half a million pesos (S$17,528).
He said the package was handed to his family when he was sent to Hong Kong for a week earlier this month by his boss Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza.
Mr Lozada said he was sent abroad to avoid giving evidence at the hearing where Arroyo's husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and political ally Benjamin Abalos have been implicated.
The president cancelled the US$329 million (S$468.8 million) national broadband network deal with China's state-run ZTE Corp as a result of the graft allegations.
The allegations of corruption have resulted in renewed calls for Mrs Arroyo to step down. On Friday in Manila's financial district more than 3,000 people attended a protest rally, and a special mass on Sunday attracted more than 4,000 people.
Some 60 former cabinet secretaries from governments going back to the late dictator Ferdiand Marcos have signed a petition calling for Mrs Arroyo to resign.
The powerful Roman Catholic Church, which was a pivotal force in the overthrow of Marcos, has remained silent although individual bishops have spoken out against Mrs Arroyo.
Mr Lozada testified on Feb 9 that Mr Abalos and the president's husband put pressure on the government to approve the overpriced multi-million-dollar telecommunications contract with ZTE in order to collect US$130 million in kickbacks.
Mr Abalos and Mrs Arroyo's husband have both denied the allegations.
The ombudsman, a special state prosecutor that specialises in corruption cases, on Monday launched a separate inquiry into the deal. -- AFP
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