Newsbreak’s top picks for stories of the year:

1.Scandal Hits Home: ZTE-National Broadband Deal

This scandal hit home: President Arroyo, her husband, and the chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) were dragged into bribery allegations by no less than the son of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., a staunch ally of the Arroyos.

It took another member of the official family, former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri (now acting chair of the Commission on Higher Education), to drop the bombshell that reinforced Joey de Venecia’s claim: that Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos offered Neri bribe money during a golf game. The expose, made before a Senate committee that investigated the telecommunications contract awarded to ZTE Corp. of China, triggered Abalos’s resignation and raised the war ante between the Arroyo and De Venecia camps.

Many had thought the scandal would break the Arroyo-De Venecia alliance, but they thought wrong. As the year ends, the two have managed to keep their marriage of convenience intact. Meanwhile, ZTE Corp. is left holding the bag with the suspension of the US$329-million contract.

2.Short and Sweet: Erap Gets Pardoned

Convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada, deposed in a 2001 military-backed uprising and detained in his sprawling rest house for six-and-a-half-years, was pardoned on October 25—just a little more than a month after his September 12 conviction by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye cited three reasons for the swift presidential move: his old age (he’s 70), the long years that he served in detention, and his promise not to run for any elective post. Administration critics saw it as the President’s attempt to save her skin in the face of renewed efforts to impeach or oust her.

3.Bags of Cash: Palace as Cash Register

Though cash gifts are common among local executives, the October 11 cash handout was different as it happened right inside the official residence of President Arroyo in Malacañang. Cash gifts ranging from P20,000 up to P50,000 were reportedly distributed to congressmen and governors before their meeting with the President.

Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio and Bulacan Governor Joselito “Jonjon” Mendoza admitted receiving cash, but this was followed by denials from their fellow local government executives. What soon followed was a pack of bloopers by administration defenders.

4.Twin Blasts: Glorietta and Batasan

A congressional building and a mall were rocked by powerful explosions barely a month apart, incidents that were initially blamed on terrorists.

Eighteen people were killed and more than a hundred were injured in the explosion that ripped Glorietta 4 in Makati’s financial district on October 19. On November 13, a powerful bomb exploded at the Batasan Pambansa complex, instantly killing Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar.

Police investigators said methane gas caused the explosion of Glorietta 4, but they have yet to release their final report on the incident. On the other hand, the Army and the police captured suspects in the Batasan blast, all based in Basilan, who reportedly confessed to getting orders to kill Akbar from his political rivals former Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin, defeated congressional bet Jim Hataman, and his brother Anak Mindanaw Rep. Mujiv Hataman.

Weeks after the “confession,” the suspects recanted and showed proof they were tortured into admitting to the crime.

5.Beheading in Basilan: Marines Pay the Price

Marines in a search-and-rescue operation for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi were caught in a fierce gun battle with alleged members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Basilan. The fight led to the killing of 14 Marines, all beheaded, sparking memories of the heyday of the Abu Sayyaf in the 1990s, when they beheaded their kidnap victims in Basilan.

The Marines have not quite come to terms with what happened and why it happened—thus the never-ending talk about grumbling in the ranks.

6.Five-Star Siege: Trillanes Strikes Again

A torn-down hotel lobby (now refurbished) and raging journalists are the aftermath of a brief standoff led by detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim at the Peninsula Manila in Makati on November 29. Trillanes and Lim led a motley crew of supporters from a Makati court that was hearing their case to the Pen, where they called on soldiers and civilians alike to withdraw their support from President Arroyo.

Police and Marines later lobbed teargas in the hotel lobby, prompting a quick surrender of the mutineers. Angry that journalists decided to stay in the hotel during the attack, the police handcuffed them and brought them to a police headquarters for “proper identification.” What started as a dud ended in a sensational story on media repression or abuse, depending on where you’re coming from.

7.Chavit’s Moment: Ducat Takes Kids as Hostages

Running a day-care center in Manila, Armando “Jun” Ducat enticed his young students with a field trip to Tagaytay City only to hold them hostage inside a tourist bus last March 28. Decrying corruption and poverty, Ducat, armed with guns and grenades, demanded state support for the school children under his care. It took former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson, then in the middle of a senatorial campaign, to persuade Ducat to surrender. Ducat gained his one-minute of fame all right, but Singson still lost his senatorial bid.

8.Heart Failure: Mike Arroyo Goes Under the Knife

Journalists were the biggest beneficiaries of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo’s recovery from heart surgery. He withdrew all the libel suits that he had filed against 46 of them.

Doctors have advised the President’s husband to stay away from stressful situations. That included being away from the political arena at the height of the senatorial elections in May. Was the opposition the other beneficiary of this advice?

9.Landslide Win: Opposition Trounces Admin Bets

The Genuine Opposition dominated the May senatorial elections, filling up seven out of the 12 senatorial seats that were up for grabs during that period.

It was the first time in recent history that the administration lost in a mid-term election.

10.Disrobing the Justices: Controversy Stalks the Court

Payoff allegations and citizenship issue hounded the High Tribunal this year. Supreme Court justice Consuelo Ynares Santiago was dragged into reports that she received bribe money that was delivered to her—cold cash—in a box. She has denied the allegations, but the High Court formed an investigating committee nonetheless which, to this day, has not begun its work.

On the other hand, President Arroyo named a justice who was to occupy a vacant seat in the High Court, only to be told that the justice is not a natural-born Filipino. Gregory Ong has insisted that he is a natural-born Filipino, and a local court has sided with him on this one. Pending appeal of the lower court’s decision on Ong’s citizenship, he remains a justice at the Sandiganbayan.—Research by Rey Santos

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