MANILA, 28 September 2007 — A Philippine senator was forced to take back her comment that China “invented corruption” after Beijing and Chinese businessmen in the country protested the tag as unfair and incorrect.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a former court judge known for her mercurial temper, publicly lashed at China in a nationally televised hearing on Wednesday into a $330 million broadband network contract that was awarded to China’s Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp. amid allegations of bribery and overpricing.

“China invented civilization in the East, but as well it invented corruption for all of human civilization,” Santiago said as she walked out of the hearing. “That’s why these Chinese love to invite people to play golf, have dinner and give free tickets to China.”

Santiago, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also admonished witnesses at the hearing for “just fighting over your kickbacks.”

Former Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri and businessman Joey de Venecia III told the hearing that they were offered bribes by Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos to clear the Chinese company for the contract.

Abalos denied the allegations but admitted that ZTE officials were his “golfing buddies” and had paid for his trips to China.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila slammed Santiago’s comments were neither fair nor correct. “We believe that the Philippine government and the people of the Philippines will not agree to that. Corruption exists not only in China, nor was it created by China,” the embassy said in a statement.

“The Chinese government has all along devoted itself to the building of an honest and clean government and combat against all forms of corruption,” it added. “In recent years, the Chinese government has adopted even tougher measures in combat against corruption and achieved prominent results.”

The Philippines stands at 131 in global transparency rankings, while China ranks 72 among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to a report released this week by Transparency International.

The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) took offense over Santiago’s “anti-Chinese remarks” and demanded an apology in behalf of ethnic Chinese, not just in the country but also around the world.

“While her (Santiago’s) outburst may have been made in the heat of emotion during the ZTE-NBN probe, the general and sweeping racial slur is directed against all Chinese and ethnic Chinese around the world,” the FFCCCII said.

“In the interest of fair play, we demand an immediate and unqualified apology from Senator Santiago,” said the federation, which has more than 50,000 members in 170 chapters around the country.

Yesterday, Santiago apologized verbally and said she would write a formal letter of apology to the Chinese ambassador.

Santiago told reporters that she was not a racist and did not mean to insult the Chinese. Her husband has Chinese ancestry, she added. She said she would write a letter of apology to the Chinese ambassador. “I will never denigrate the Chinese because I married one,” she said. “I’ve always been a great admirer of Chinese civilization.”

“The point I was making was that if a Chinese contract is pending with our government, any trip by a public official to China or any socializing with the Chinese involved becomes suspicious,” she said.

Santiago is a close ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who witnessed the signing of the broadband deal during a visit to Beijing in April.

Arroyo has hailed deepening ties between the Philippines and China, and is scheduled to visit Beijing again next month.

Impeachment

An opposition politician, meanwhile, filed an impeachment complaint yesterday against election chief Abalos, over the alleged bribe offers he made to Neri and de Venecia.

Abalos denied the allegation and said he will not step down.

The Chinese company, Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corp., also denied any irregularities.

In his impeachment complaint, Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico of Iloilo province in the central Philippines, accused Abalos of culpable violation of the constitution, betrayal of the public trust, bribery and graft and corruption.

The charges were “basically for brokering the ZTE contract, and attendant to that, bribing” Neri and Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, founder of a losing Philippine bidder, Amsterdam Holdings Inc., said Rep. Teddy Casiٌo, one of three lawmakers who endorsed the complaint. Both Neri and de Venecia have said they were offered bribes to allow the Chinese to win the contract.

Suplico said Abalos violated a constitutional provision prohibiting officials from being “financially interested ... in any contract.” Abalos also betrayed public trust by trying to cover up his participation in the broadband deal, violating a law on the proper conduct of public officials, and allegedly receiving a $100 million kickback from ZTE, Suplico said.

He claimed Abalos had “direct and indispensable participation” in brokering the deal and offered the bribe to Neri and a separate $10 million bribe to de Venecia, son of the House speaker, to withdraw his own broadband proposal.

Abalos will be impeached if at least 80 representatives, or two-thirds of the 240 House members, support the move.

Abalos, a 72-year-old former judge, said the impeachment bid was part of “a sustained and well-funded campaign to destroy me.” As a fallout from the scandal involving the $330 million project deepened, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said that it would not affect ties with the Philippines.

“The Philippines is investigating the case according to the law of their country, and we respect their decision,” ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei said in Beijing. “This will not affect the bilateral relationship of the two countries.”

The Philippine Supreme Court has suspended the project, and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, faced with questions over the government’s allegedly corrupt practices, also put it on hold.

Before leaving for New York on Tuesday, she said she had ordered a discreet investigation and found allegations of bribery and overpricing unsubstantiated.

Waste of Money

Yesterday, the Senate hearing heard from two economists from the University of the Philippines and a former head of the transportation and communications department, who claimed the telecoms deal with ZTE Corp was a waste of money.

“We’re not against connectivity,” said Raul Fabella, former dean of the state’s school of economics.

“But the attempt to acquire a government-owned and operated backbone...is what we are objecting to. We think that is economically nonsense.”

Rampant corruption has sent the Philippines down 10 notches to 131 in global transparency rankings in the last year, a Transparency International report said this week. (With input from Inquirer News Services & Agencies)