Former Philippine president linked to corruption

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been implicated in at least two corruption and vote-rigging scandals being investigated as part of her successor's bid to clean government, officials said Friday.

Law professor Carlos Medina, a member of the five-member commission set up by President Benigno Aquino III to probe the issue, said the body has an initial list of 23 cases of massive graft and corruption linked to government officials in Arroyo's administration.

Two of the cases are directly linked to Arroyo, who faced down four coup plots and several attempts to remove her from office through impeachment during her Jan. 2001-June 2010 term as president.

Medina said Arroyo would be investigated over allegations she was linked in a bribery scandal involving a $330 million deal with a Chinese telecommunications company that she later aborted after it was decried as overpriced, as well as allegations that she conspired with an election official to commit voter fraud in the 2004 presidential elections.

While Arroyo has been implicated in the cases, the commission has yet to officially start its investigation. Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing.

Another member of the commission, former Supreme Court Justice Flerida Ruth Romero, said corruption in the Philippines "has reached very alarming levels, and undermined the people's trust and confidence in the government and its institutions."

She said the commission's work will "restore the trust and confidence of the people in the government."

The commission, however, faces legal obstacles before it can formally open hearings.

Arroyo's allies have filed a petition with the Supreme Court arguing that only Congress can form such a body and that its functions overlap with those of the ombudsman, which investigates and prosecutes complaints against state officials and employees.

Romero said the commission for now can only receive complaints but cannot perform other functions. The commission is still awaiting approval of its budget, she said.

Aquino won a landslide election victory in May on a platform of fighting corruption and poverty.