Arroyos vs Cayetano before House ethics body

Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano turned the tables yesterday on Reps. Jose Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo of Negros Occidental and Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo of Pampanga, saying it is they who should be expelled from the House of Representatives.

In a six-page "Answer with Complaint" he gave to the House ethics committee, Cayetano said it is the two Arroyos, not he, who should be punished for "improper conduct, disorderly behavior and unparliamentary conduct."

The same charges were leveled against the Taguig-Pateros congressman by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, his brother Iggy, and sons Mikey and Diosdado for accusing the First Family of keeping "hundreds of millions of dollars" in HypoVereinsbank in Munich, Germany. The Arroyos denied the accusation. The First Gentleman, accompanied by his spokesman and Mrs. Arroyo’s election lawyer, flew to Munich to obtain certifications that the First Family did not keep money in HypoVereinsbank.

The accused and two of his accusers — the President’s husband and son Diosdado, nicknamed Dato, finally met face-to-face yesterday during the third hearing of the ethics committee on the Arroyos’ complaints.

While Cayetano briefly addressed his colleagues, the First Gentleman and Dato sat quietly behind a row of congressmen-allies and did not speak a word until the meeting, which lasted just about 30 minutes, ended.

In seeking the expulsion of the two Arroyos, Cayetano cited the allegation in the impeachment complaint the opposition filed against the President last July that "Juan Miguel Arroyo and Ignacio Arroyo engaged in graft and corruption by receiving monthly jueteng payola."

He said the impeachment complained accused Mrs. Arroyo of allegedly getting P1 million in payola from jueteng operators per region "through her spouse/congressman-son/brother-in-law."

The Arroyos have denied receiving jueteng money.

Cayetano also cited the Senate inquiry into tens of millions in Jose Pidal deposits, which opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson attributed to Mrs. Arroyo’s husband in late 2003.

He said the deposits were held in Account 661-5-00497-7 at the BPI Family Bank-Perea St. Branch in Makati City, not far from the LTA Building owned by the Arroyo family.

Exactly eight days after Lacson exposed the deposits in 2003, Iggy came out in the open to tell the public that it was he, not the President’s husband, who owned the account.

But when investigated by the Senate, Iggy refused to reveal details of the deposits, invoking his right to privacy more than 20 times. He won his House seat in the 2004 elections.

In his "Answer with Complaint," Cayetano also accused his two colleagues of "attempt(ing) to intimidate me to prevent me from performing my duties as Representatives, Deputy Minority Leader and spokesperson of the impeachment team" by filing libel cases against him.

"Their intimidation to prevent me from expressing my opinion and positions on issues of national importance and on the many anomalous transactions and malfeasances of the administration constitute violation of my parliamentary immunity," he said.

He urged the ethics committee to dismiss the complaints the President’s husband, his brother and his two sons filed against him since it has no jurisdiction over these.

He told the panel that its own rules prohibit it from acting on any complaint whose subject matter is pending resolution in a judicial, quasi-judicial or administrative body.

The Arroyos, except Dato, have filed libel cases against Cayetano with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.