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Manila: Opposition groups formally filed five impeachment complaints against President Gloria Arroyo but said they were handicapped not for want of evidence but the number of lawmakers needed to get their complaints through to the Senate.
One of the complaints alleged that a $329 million (Dh1.2 billion) telecommunications project being handled by China's ZTE Corporation and funded by China's overseas development fund was overpriced by at least $130 million.
The project had initially won approval in 2006, but Arroyo scrapped the deal in 2007 after a son of her ally Jose de Venecia told a Senate probe that the project was overpriced to accommodate kickbacks demanded by government officials including her husband Jose Arroyo.
Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, one of the complainants, was refused a contract under the project.
Another complaint stated that Arroyo was behind the the purchase of 728 million pesos (Dh56.1 million) worth of fertiliser that never reached farmers in 2007.
Former Congressman and the current Governor of Iloilo, Rolex Suplico, lawyer Harry Roque and De Venecia led the filing of the complaints in the House of Representatives while Leftist Congressmen Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino and Liza Maza endorsed them.
"Our more than 100-page complaint is backed by evidence. It is part of our battle against corruption and poverty. I hope that more citizens and civil society organisations will support our impeachment complaint," said De Venecia.
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