Iggy Arroyo may face charges after ‘rescuing’ brother
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
NEGROS Occidental Representative Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo may face charges in court after he supposedly spared his brother, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, from another controversy he is facing in a Senate investigation.
In a statement issued from London, the lawmaker on Monday said that Lourdes T. De Arroyo Inc. (LTA, Inc.) was the lessee of five helicopters from Lion Air Inc. president Archibald Po back in 2003. He said his brother was not connected to the company then.
“Our company needed to lease helicopters then. We certainly did not need to own five helicopters. If we had wanted to go into the helicopter charter business, we would have purchased the equipment directly and openly instead of entering into a convoluted transaction with Mr. Archibald Po who was not really known well by our company,” Arroyo’s statement read.
Previously, Iggy also took the cudgels for his brother when the latter was identified to be having the “Jose Pidal” accounts several years ago, which also become the subject of a Senate investigation. Iggy said the account was his and not his brother’s.
Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, a member of the House majority bloc, said that if witnesses in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe could prove that there was an anomaly in the sale of second-hand helicopters to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Iggy could face graft and even plunder raps depending on the amount involved in the case.
“Apart from this case kung sinasali niya sarili niya and apparently malinaw na there is some kind of anomaly kasi this is a second-hand passed on as brand new, definitely meron,” Umali told reporters in a news briefing.
“Of course, Iggy is a congressman; there
is a violation…probably in connivance with some officials of PNP. Clearly, there is graft and even plunder depending on amount involved in this particular case. Perjury is one, falsification of documents is another,” he added.
Asked if the former First Gentleman could already escape the possible charges against him, Umali said it would still depend on the testimonies of the witnesses.
“Depending on the outcome of the investigation, depending on aggressiveness of the witnesses who will really come forward, and conduct of investigation itself that is what will matter at the end of the day,” he said.
San Juan Representative JV Ejercito, a critic of the Arroyo administration, added the transaction is clearly disadvantageous to the government as people’s money was used in the purchase of the concerned helicopters.
Ejercito said he cannot blame Iggy for trying to save his brother.
“Hindi natin siya masisisi, a brother will always try to save his brother, naawa na rin ako sa kanya kasi siya yung laging sumasalo,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Arroyo family’s appeal to spare former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from criticism while recuperating has been heeded by some of her critics.
Ejercito, son of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, said he would have a “personal moratorium” on attacks against his colleague in the House of Representatives.
He said that this does not, however, mean that investigations to be conducted against Mrs. Arroyo should be stopped, especially those that involve other respondents.
“For humanitarian reasons, I wish her well also as we don’t want to cause her stress because of what she’s going through right now. Tao rin naman tayo, ayaw din nating mapasama yung kalagayan ni GMA,” Ejercito said, referring to former President Arroyo.
For several days, Arroyo’s doctors at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City have not issued a medical bulletin over the former President’s condition.
Earlier, Arroyo’s legal counsel Raul Lambino was quoted by a television report saying that Arroyo’s doctors have advised her to seek treatment abroad. Lambino, however, denied such advice from Arroyo’s doctors.
Meanwhile, a Catholic bishop has asked Representative Iggy Arroyo to substantiate his claim by facing the ongoing Senate probe regarding the PNP choppers deal.
“If [Iggy Arroyo] owns the items concerned, I presume it’s logical for the Senate to call him and for him to speak before the Senate and show documentations to prove his claim,” said Archbishop emeritus Oscar Cruz.
Cruz, former Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, also said that he believes the former First Gentleman is the previous owner of the helicopters sold to the PNP.
“I still seem to believe that the former First Gentleman was really the owner because there is no reason for those who testified in the Senate to lie. Because they went against a previously powerful person,” said Cruz. (Kathrina Alvarez/AMN/Sunnex)
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