Cayetano an ‘ungrateful man’ — Mike A

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo said Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano had been a "very ungrateful man" for attacking the First Family even after seeking financial assistance to fund his campaign in the May 2004 elections.

According to Arroyo, the Taguig-Pateros lawmaker approached him along with his elder sister Sen. Pia Cayetano begging for additional election funds to pay their poll watchers.

"Tito (uncle) please, we don’t have anymore money for watchers," Arroyo quoted them as saying.

"(So) I gave them (the money) but they said ‘kulang pa yan’ (that’s not enough) Tito, so I even added some more," he said.

Arroyo declined to reveal the amount he donated but he said the Cayetanos know the exact amount.

Arroyo said he could not see the reason why Cayetano has accused the First Family of stashing millions of dollars in a bank in Germany despite the financial assistance he had given to the congressman in the last election.

"I really cannot understand why they were so ungrateful, when they came to me, I helped them. Why is he doing this to us? Is it because of his political agenda?" Arroyo asked.

"Not only is he so ungrateful, he lies, he manufactures evidence.. I’m so surprised with this boy," he said.

Last week, Arroyo filed 13 libel complaints against Cayetano after producing a certification from the HypoVereinsbank in Munich that he did not have any account with them.

The First Gentleman sought P30 million in damages from the opposition lawmaker.

Arroyo led his son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, and his brother, Negros Oriental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo in filing a complaint before the House of Representatives ethics committee seeking the expulsion of Cayetano for "malicious and defamatory accusations against our family."

The Arroyos said Cayetano "maliciously insinuated and intimated that our family laundered ‘hundreds of millions of dollars.’"

Mikey and Iggy filed separate complaints yesterday against Cayetano seeking P6 million in damages.

Family lawyer Ruy Rondain hinted the Arroyos might be filing more suits against Cayetano and the Tulfo brothers.

‘I trust my brother’

Cayetano first mentioned the alleged account during a debate last month on an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo on allegations of vote-rigging, corruption and human rights abuses.

He said the alleged account was only one of many pieces of evidence the opposition was not able to present because their impeachment complaint was thrown out.

Even in the spate of suits filed against him by the Arroyos, Cayetano remained unfazed as he repeated his challenge to the First Family to sign a waiver so that he and others in the opposition can look into their bank accounts here and abroad to settle the issue of whether they had undeclared wealth.

Even as the opposition congressman is virtually alone engaging the Arroyos in legal battle, his elder sister Pia declared her trust and support for him.

"My family is very close. We support each other. Alan has given me a lot of advice and support for my work, and I also do the same for him. I have a different job to play in the Senate and he has a different job in the House. As I’ve said before, I trust that he knows what he’s doing," Senator Cayetano said.

While she may be the oldest of the Cayetano siblings, the administration senator said the Taguig-Pateros lawmaker and another brother, Muntinlupa City Councilor Rene Cayetano, "are more experienced" in politics compared to her.

"Both of my brothers have been in politics much longer than me so I know that Alan will be able to handle the situation well," she said.

Opposition Rep. Rolex Suplico of Iloilo also defended Cayetano and pointed out the House ethics committee has "no jurisdiction" over the complaint filed by the Arroyos seeking the expulsion.

Suplico said that under House rules, any action over a member should be "deferred" pending similar cases filed before a judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative body. — With Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla, Evelyn Macairan