MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has been asked to reconsider its resolution absolving Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, of any liability in the $329-million NBN-ZTE deal, saying there was sufficient evidence to implicate him in the scuttled transaction.

In a motion for reconsideration filed yesterday, whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada and Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said Lozada’s statement about the deal during a Senate inquiry also cited by the Office of the Ombudsman’s resolution “constitutes an eyewitness account of respondent (Mike) Arroyo’s involvement in the ZTE project.”

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier cleared the President and her husband of allegations they were involved in brokering the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp.

However, it recommended the filing of charges against former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Benjamin Abalos and Social Security System president Romulo Neri. Both Abalos and Neri have appealed the findings.

A motion filed in the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) led by former vice president Teofisto Guingona, also said Ms Arroyo and her husband should not have been spared.

Lozada had testified he heard Abalos on the phone talking about the deal with Mike Arroyo. He added that the President’s husband even joined him and witness Joey De Venecia III at a dinner Abalos had organized.

“At the very least, strongly, if indirectly, implies that respondent (Mike) Arroyo, at the behest of respondent Abalos, intervened in the process of awarding the ZTE contract,” Baraquel said.

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr., another complainant, said that based on the evidence presented by the others, Mike Arroyo should face not only graft charges but other charges for violating the Code of Conduct for relatives of the President.

“The truth of the matter is that contrary to the Honorable Office’s finding, convincing and solid evidence which directly or indirectly link respondent Arroyo in the controversial NBN-ZTE Project have been satisfactorily presented,” he said.

Francisco also lamented that the Office of the Ombudsman “miserably, if not deliberately, failed to investigate Ms Arroyo and Mike Arroyo’s trip to China to meet with ZTE officials.”

The Office of the Ombudsman said earlier that the President was immune from suit, and that there was insufficient evidence against her husband.

But the CCM said allegations against Ms Arroyo are criminal in nature and therefore not covered by presidential immunity. “These actions cannot be considered as official acts of the President because they are illegal,” it added. With a report from Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, INQUIRER.net