Senate should invite First Gentleman in NBN-ZTE probe, says JDV

SAN FABIAN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – Former House speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said the Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigating the botched $329-million NBN-ZTE deal should summon First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo so it could “write finis to the probe.”

“Because he has avoided the Senate Blue Ribbon committee for about two years now claiming that he is sick, that he is not well, that his physician advised him against it but he’s been to Australia, to Europe, to America with the President,” De Venecia said.

“Unless that is done, you cannot write finis to it. This issue continues to bedevil the nation and our people,” he added.

He said he himself has “appeared so many times in the House, I must have issued more than 50 to a hundred statements already in the House, in the community on justice, in the impeachment committee, in privilege speeches in the House, in interviews in radio and television countless times.”

“I think the one who has not appeared should be the one who should be given high priority before they complete the Blue Ribbon committee report. I think they should call Mike Arroyo to answer the statement issued by my son Joey de Venecia,” he said.

Asked to comment on the Ombudsman’s ruling clearing Mr. Arroyo, he said, “Baligtad na ang mundo (The world has turned upside down).”

He said he no longer holds a grudge against the President and the First Gentleman but stressed “let justice be done.”  

His son and namesake echoed his call for Mr. Arroyo to attend a Senate hearing on the matter.

“I ask that an Ombudsman who does not carry the political baggage and debt of gratitude of Ms. (Merceditas) Gutierrez review the role played by Mr. Arroyo in the aborted ZTE-NBN deal,” Joey said.

“I also ask the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which is set to continue its investigation of the ZTE-NBN deal, to invite Mike Arroyo to testify. He was previously exempted from attending the Blue Ribbon hearings due to his ill health, but he has since recovered as can be proven by his constant travels abroad with Mrs. Arroyo,” he said.

Meanwhile, whistleblower Rodolfo Lozada Jr. said he is in favor of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s proposal to have Gutierrez attend the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the issue on Tuesday. – With Michael Punongbayan and Christina Mendez