Manila  - The Philippines' Office of the Ombudsman has approved filing graft charges against two key allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in connection with a botched 329-million-dollar broadband deal, documents released Friday said.

The 144-page decision said there was probable cause to file graft charges against former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and ex-socio-economic planning secretary Romulo Neri for irregularities in the contract with Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

The Office of the Ombudsman, which assists in resolving complaints against government authorities, said Abalos was liable.

"It is without a scintilla of doubt that the actions of respondent Benjamin Abalos ... are highly suspect, reprehensible and should in no manner or measure be countenanced by those in public service," the resolution said.

"The most glaring of all, a question that Abalos continues to keep mum about, are the reasons for his inordinate and extensive interest in a project that is completely alien to his duties and functions as chairman of the Commission on Elections," it added.

Abalos, who oversaw the 2004 presidential elections that were allegedly rigged to ensure Arroyo's victory, resigned from his post at the height of a Senate investigation on the issue in 2007.

The ombudsman said Neri was culpable for partying with Abalos and ZTE officials at the time when his department was evaluating the project.

The resolution said Neri, who was transferred by Arroyo to the government-run Social Security System, should have been more prudent in his actions since his agency was evaluating the project.

"Neri acquiesced in attending lunch meetings, conferences and golf games not only with Abalos but with ZTE officials as well," it said. "His actions speak more than a thousand [words]. The chain of circumstantial evidence linking Neri to the deal between Abalos and ZTE cannot be broken."

Neri told the Senate investigation into the deal that in one golfing session, Abalos offered him 200 million pesos (4.14 million dollars) to ensure that the project would go to the Chinese firm.

The ombudsman cleared Arroyo of any charges since she was immune from all kinds of suits while in office. Her term is scheduled to end in June. Her husband, attorney Jose Miguel, was also cleared since there was no "convincing" evidence to link him to the contract.

At first, Arroyo dismissed allegations of anomalies in the ZTE deal as politicking by her critics. But when witnesses came forward to testify about the anomalies and multimillion-dollar kickbacks, she scrapped the deal. (dpa)