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Senate detains Macapagal ally
Roel Landingin
9/28/2005
Norberto Gonzales, director-general of the National Security Council, was cited in contempt of the senate and ordered to be confined to the legislative building until he agrees to answer the senators' questions about how the contract with Washington-based Venable was funded and how the government chose the firm.
Mr Gonzales signed a deal with Venable to help the Philippines obtain grants from US Congress for Mrs Macapagal's plans to revise the constitution to change to a federal parliamentary system.
The controversy is potentially embarrassing to Mrs Macapagal as Mr Gonzales is one of her closest advisers but it is not serious enough to threaten her presidency, according to political analysts. Mrs Macapagal has just defeated opposition attempts to impeach her in Congress over allegations of electoral fraud and corruption.
"It's an example of how politics and government will look in the months ahead," said Benito Lim, a political science professor.
"She'll stay in power but will be subject to constant attacks and criticism."
Her political opponents organised recently what was announced as one of the biggest anti-Macapagal protests, but the turnout was smaller than expected.
Mr Gonzales signed the contract with Venable on July 25, the day Mrs Macapagal told Congress, the lawmaking body, to begin the "great debate on charter change". He said the contract, which costs about $75,000 a month, was funded by private donors.
The senators believed the contract was potentially irregular because it was inviting foreign interference in a domestic political process.
They also wanted to find out who the private donors were and whether the donations were properly booked in government accounts.
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