Arroyo orders probe of bribe allegation

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered an investigation into allegations that bags of cash were handed to officials to block an impeachment bid against her, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The latest in a series of scandals to hit Arroyo broke after two provincial governors said this week they each received $11,360 from an unidentified government official.

Increasing pressure on Arroyo to explain where the funds came from, influential Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday said the revelations demonstrated the country's "moral bankruptcy, disappointingly being shown by our leaders."

Arroyo ordered the Presidential Anti-graft Commission to investigate the alleged bribes "to determine who is responsible and to determine the source" of the money, spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

He said the probe started Friday but was kept quiet. Bunye on Monday denied rumors that lawmakers were bribed.

"This investigation will focus on who gave these supposed cash gifts to the congressmen and governors," Bunye said.

Newspapers and pundits have speculated the money was meant to secure support for Arroyo in the House of Representatives, where she faced a third impeachment bid in as many years on allegations of corruption stemming from an allegedly overpriced contract with a Chinese telecommunications company. The deal was recently scrapped.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer last week quoted unnamed congressmen as saying they had received cash after Arroyo met with more than 100 mostly pro-administration House members.

On Monday, provincial governors Eddie Panlilio and Jonjon Mendoza said they were each given cash by an unidentified government official after they attended a governors' meeting presided by Arroyo last Thursday.

Arroyo survived two previous impeachment attempts over alleged vote-rigging and corruption when her House allies used their overwhelming numbers to crush the complaints on a technicality.