Benjamin Abalos

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name = Benjamin Abalos


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order =
office = COMELEC Chairman
term_start = June 05, 2002
term_end = October 1, 2007
predecessor = Alfredo Benipayo
successor = Resurreccion Borra
appointer = Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
order2 =
office2 = Chairman, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
term_start2 = January 20, 2001
term_end2 = June 5, 2002
birth_date = birth date and age|1935|09|21
birth_place =
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nationality = Filipino
party = Lakas-CMD
spouse =
relations =
children =
residence =
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occupation =
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religion = Roman Catholic


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Benjamin Abalos is a politician and was a former chairman of the Philippine Commission on Election. He was also a former MMDA Chairman and Mandaluyong City Mayor. He is the father of current Mandaluyong City mayor Benhur Abalos.

Early life

Benjamin Abalos was born into a poor family in Pangasinan on Sept. 21, 1935. A 1957 law graduate of the Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU), Abalos claims to have supported himself through college by working as a janitor, factory worker, and a caddy at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

In 1963, Abalos ran for vice mayor of Mandaluyong, which was then part of Rizal. He lost to the scion of a political family in what he alleges to have been a fraud-ridden local election.

For the next several years he served as judge. While his record as judge is not associated with any monumental legal feat, he loves talking of how he was named as outstanding judge for 10 straight years.

In the course of his career as judge, he would meet and forge a partnership with Neptali Gonzalez, an opposition leader at that time who would eventually become Senate President.

As a Mayor of Mandaluyong

He ran for Mandaluyong mayor in 1980. He claims to have won in the count, but says he was unable to assume his post. This, he says, is because the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos prevented him from serving as mayor.

In 1986, shortly after Marcos was ousted through a popular uprising, President Corazon Aquino appointed him as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) mayor of Mandaluyong.

He ran for Mandaluyong mayor and won in the local elections of 1988, the first local elections under the 1987 Constitution. He ran for the same post and won in the elections of 1992, 1995, and 1998 –- using up the constitutionally-mandated limit of three consecutive terms for local officials.

Up to 1991, Abalos was an active member of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), when he and others in a group led by Gonzalez split over Senate leadership rivalries with Sen. Edgardo Angara. He became part of the Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats (Lakas-NUCD), which fielded former Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos in the 1992 presidential elections.

In 2001 Abalos was appointed chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), a post he held until the following year. He takes pride in the cleanliness drive he implemented as MMDA chairman.

Chairman of MMDA

Abalos also served as Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman from 2001-2002 until his appointment for COMELEC.

Chairman of COMELEC

On February 19, 2001 President Arroyo appointed Justice Alfredo Benipayo as Chairman of the Commission. However, the Commission on Appointments did not confirm his appointment due to opposition of some Commissioners led by Luzviminda Tancangco. On June 5, 2002 President Arroyo appointed Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman and former Mandaluyong City mayor Benjamin S. Abalos, Sr. to replace Benipayo.

Impeachment complaint

On September 27, 2007, Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico filed a 64-page impeachment complaint (3:00 p.m.) against Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. before the House of Representatives of the Philippines regarding the ZTE national broadband network (NBN) deal. It was endorsed by Representatives Teofisto Guingona III of Bukidnon and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna (People First), and Zamboanga City Representative Ma. Isabelle Climaco. Affidavits of Romulo Neri and Jose de Venecia III supported the complaint. [ [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=91083 Inquirer.net, Impeachment raps filed vs Abalos at House by Iloilo vice gov] ] [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/62200/Impeachment-raps-filed-vs-Abalos-over-ZTE-controversy GMA NEWS.TV, Impeachment raps filed vs Abalos over ZTE controversy] ] On October 1, 2007, COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. faced with an impending impeachment case resigned in a press conference. The Commission on Elections appointed Resurreccion Borra as Acting Chairman. Mr. Abalos stated: "I'm resigning... effective immediately," Mr. Abalos told a news conference. "However, let not my detractors feast on this declaration. I'm not admitting guilt for any wrongdoing"." [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119126475808945322.html?mod=googlenews_wsj WSJ, Philippine Voting Chief Quits Amid Bribe Queries] ] An impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr was formally filed before the House of Representatives after Romulo Neri, former chief of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), accused Abalos of attempting to bribe him.

ZTE broadband contract controversy

In August 2007, Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla delivered a privilege speech alleging that Abalos brokered for the national broadband network (NBN) project. Padilla claimed that Abalos met with officials of the Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which got the US $329 million contract for the broadband project.

Abalos denied brokering for the National Broadband Network project despite admitting he knows some officials in ZTE Corp. He admitted making four trips to China and playing golf there. He also admitted that ZTE officials, whom he says are his golf buddies, hosted and paid for the trips.

Jose de Venecia III, son of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, alleged that Abalos offered him US$10 million to withdraw his proposal on the NBN project. De Venecia is a majority shareholder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., a company that submitted an unsolicited proposal on the NBN project. De Venecia also claimed that Abalos asked for money from the ZTE Corp. officials.

Hello Garci

Abalos was mentioned in the "Hello Garci" tape, which refers to the alleged wiretapped conversations where vote rigging in the 2004 elections was discussed by, among others, a woman presumed to be President Arroyo and man presumed to be Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Mega Pacific

Abalos was the Comelec chair when the election body approved a P1.3-billion contract with the Mega Pacific Consortium for the purchase of automated counting machines, which the Supreme Court in January 2004 declared as void because of "clear violation of law and jurisprudence" and "reckless disregard of [Comelec's] own bidding rules and procedure."

On January 21 2004, Pimentel filed criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman against Abalos and other commissioners in connection with the deal. Abalos described the charges as a "demolition job."

Pimentel accused Abalos and the other commissioners of committing an act of impropriety when they and their wives traveled to Seoul, South Korea to visit the plant of the maker of the counting machines a few months before the bidding for the contract started. Pimentel said he received information that the Korean company paid for the plane tickets and hotel accommodations for the trip.

However, Abalos claimed that the expenses for the trip were paid for out of the P1 million he won in a golf tournament in Wack Wack.

On September 27 2006, the Ombudsman, in a resolution, absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities "for lack of probable cause." It also reversed its June 28 resolution which contained factual findings that can be used by the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra.

Trivia

*Benjamin Abalos showed much distress and confusion as he adressed the public of Jun Lozada's consumption of his daughter's hamburger. He however, pronounces it as "ham-bur-jer". He concluded that his daughter's hamburger, whose recipe supposedly came from Abalos himself, proves to be "a hamburger that conquers fear, a hamburger worth dying for."

*The former Comelec Chairman is now back in private life and went back to private business as he recently opened "Ben's Burjer" owned by his daughter in Barangka Mandaluyong City. The product based from Wack Wack Golf & Country Club now made available to the public ranging from 15 to 110 pesos. He's also into prawn business.

*On April 21, 2008, Mar Roxas's staffs distributed Abalos’ “burjer” T-shirts (from his restaurant, with the words, “Ben’s Burjer” and “burjer to die for”) to journalists covering the Senate. [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=115737 Abs-Cbn Interactive, ‘Ben’s burjer’ shirts invade Senate] ]

References

[http://ourthoughtsarefree.blogspot.com/2007/09/benjamin-abalos-legacy-of-controversy.html Benjamin Abalos: A Legacy or Controversy]
[http://www.gmanews.tv/story/79804/Controversies-involving-Benjamin-Abalos Controversies Involving Benjamin Abalos]

See also

*Commission on Elections (Philippines)succession box
before= Alfredo Benipayo
title= COMELEC Chairman
years= 2002 – 2007
after= Resurreccion Borra
(Acting) succession box
before=Jejomar Binay
title= Chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority
years= 2001 – 2002
after= Bayani Fernandosuccession box
before=Neptali Gonzales
title= Mayor of Mandaluyong City
Prior to 1988, Officer-in-Charge Mayor of Mandaluyong City
years= 1986 – 2001
after= Benjamin Abalos, Jr.