The Fortress by the Pasig is still adamant about the National Broadband Network-ZTE deal: Malacañang will not cancel NBN deal with ZTE. Now it issues a gag order on the deal, and it refuses to open the contract to public scrutiny. If the contract/deal is above-board, why don’t they show it to the Senate?

And now, talks of impeaching Benjamin Abalos Sr., chair of Comelec and said to be the facilitator of the questionable deal swirls around, with the House minority preparing to file an impeachment complaint in 2-4 weeks time. But as always, they are slow: the ever-nuisance Oliver Lozano already has an impeachment complaint ready. Abalos must be smiling in relief now.

Realistically, you cannot impeach Abalos; with the current House composition, transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate is like wishing for the national debt to be forgiven. What needs to be done is to force him to resign; however, the chances of success are slim, what with Abalos’ character. If he had delicadeza and honor at all, he would have turned down the appointment.

Still, forcing him to resign is still a viable option. Maybe I should call on the mob called the blogosphere? Yes, I am kidding on the previous statement, but let us consider another shame campaign. I don’t care what you say about Abalos, I don’t care at all.

Why should he resign?

1. The botched poll automation. The Supreme Court ordered the Mega Pacific automation deal scrapped, and it had even ordered the Ombudsman to file cases against Comelec officials. The Ombudsman, not as independent as we want it to be, passively defies the High Court. If Abalos is a honorable man, he should have resigned at this point. But no.

2. The Hello Garci scandal. Nuff said.

3. The 2007 elections. Not content with the almost-botched 2004 special operations, this year’s spec-ops were more open, the cheating was obvious and done in the open. Yet, he had the audacity to say everything went ok?

4. The ZTE deal. Here is the pinnacle of Abalos’ shameful acts. He admitted to everything except f*ck*ng with the ZTE officials! Going to trips to China on ZTE’s expense? Check. Playing golf with ZTE officials? Check. Talking to ZTE officials? Check. The question now is: WHY?

Yes, I am calling for his resignation. Yes, I am calling for his impeachment. How about you? If you want corruption to stop, you have to put your foot down. Make a stand. Start by calling for his resignation and/or impeachment. Start by blogging. Start by spreading the word.

If there is someone that best represents the degradation of our political values, he is no other than Benjamin Abalos, Sr.

Immediately after the 2007 elections, rumors swirled about a certain Comelec official who was involved in the rotten National Broadband Network-ZTE Corp. deal. Signed during the election period, the Omnibus Election Code explicitly bans transactions of this type, except for transactions that have the Comelec’s imprimatur. This deal was signed, and it was assumed that the Comelec approved it.

The NBN project was conceived from scratch. Its purported objective was to create a broadband network, owned and operated by the government, to connect all government agencies and offices. Not only is this project contrary to the privatization efforts of the government, it is unnecessary and inefficient. And we will be adding more to the national debt because of this useless project.

The facts of this rotten deal are being exposed by Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc, although the name of the Comelec official was not disclosed. Not until Representative Carlos Padilla delivered a privilege and named Ben Abalos, Chair of Comelec, as the Comelec official involved in this deal.

We used to hold our leaders in high regard, and we expect them to act with honesty, uprightness, and dignity. Yes, we expect them to be like Caesar’s wife – above suspicion. The concept of delicadeza bound our leaders to right conduct.

All of these are being thrown away. Ben Abalos is just the right person to be the poster boy of the degradation of our political values.

Everyday, Abalos’ stink in this deal is being exposed, and he tries to justify his corrupt actions with corny wisecracks and subtle distractions.

He admitted going to China on ZTE’s expense. He admitted playing golf with ZTE officials. He admitted talking with ZTE officials to help his child on importation issues. Heck, he almost admitted getting in bed with women supplied by ZTE! These actions an upright politician and government official would have avoided like a plague, because he knows that after committing such acts, his reputation is forever tainted; the people will no longer trust him.

And that is sadly not in the mind of Ben Abalos.

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I guess we had it coming. We actually share something in common with Ben Abalos. We only care for ourselves, for our welfare. After all, why would Abalos sacrifice his reputation? He doesn’t care, since it is all about the money.

If we all value honesty, if we all hold our leaders to strict standards, we would all be outraged by Abalos’ actions, we would all be calling for his resignation. Yet what are we doing? We are all busy earning our bread, planning on getting out of this country, watching stupid TV shows, drinking alcohol as if not doing so would kill us, sipping expensive coffee and speaking alien gobbledygook. Heck, some of us would even say the catch-phrase of this political era: ganyan naman lahat sila (all of them are like that). Yeah. Ganyan naman lahat TAYO (ALL OF US ARE LIKE THAT).

Can you accept that? Do you think you are corrupt?