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KABALIKAT ng Malayang Pilipino Rep. Ignacio Arroyo of
Negros Occiental said he is unfazed by the appointment
of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to the powerful Senate
blue-ribbon committee and would not mind if the neophyte
senator reopens the controversial Jose Pidal case.
“Who are
we to question that? All I can say is that I’m not
bothered by it,” said Arroyo.
“Wala
na [Jose Pidal account]. I closed the accounts
before the Amla [Antimoney Laundering Act] took effect,
so there’s no violation of the law,” he said.
Four
years ago, Sen. Panfilo Lacson made a privileged speech
exposing the alleged money-laundering activities of Mrs.
Arroyo’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, which prompted the
Senate blue-ribbon committee, then headed by Sen. Joker
Arroyo, to conduct an investigation.
Ignacio,
brother-in-law of the President, surfaced and claimed he
owned the accounts. Nothing happened to the case,
though. The blue-ribbon committee accepted the thesis
that a privacy issue was involved because Ignacio is not
a public official (he was not yet a congressman then)
and there is no finding that the money in the account
was taxpayer money or the fruit of graft.
On the
possible reopening by the Senate’s Committee on
Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations,
the congressman said that just like in the past, Lacson,
who has been itching to get the powerful committee, will
not be able to produce evidence to back his claims about
the accounts.
“Well,
if he [Cayetano] reopens it, that’s his right as the
chairman. But he might be embarrassed again, just like
what happened to the German account,” Arroyo said.
The
congressman was referring to the supposed
multimillion-dollar account Cayetano claimed the Arroyos
maintained in Germany but failed to prove it.
The
“dud” exposé was reportedly fed by Lacson to Cayetano,
who was then a congressman representing Taguig-Pateros.
The Arroyo brothers filed a complaint before the House
Committee on Ethics against Cayetano.
Earlier
on Monday, Senate leaders successfully quelled a brewing
unrest among members of the majority bloc before
managing to complete the assignment of chairmanships in
at least 33 of 36 standing committees, with only three
panels—ethics and privileges, agrarian reform and public
services—left unfilled.
The
senators and their committees are: Miriam
Santiago—foreign relations and energy; Lito Lapid—games
and amusement; Bong Revilla—public works and public
information; Juan Ponce Enrile—finance; Gregorio Honasan—public
order; Edgardo Angara—banks and financial institutions,
agriculture and food, and science and technology;
Richard Gordon—constitutional amendments, government
corporations and tourism; Pia Cayetano-Sebastian—environment
and natural resources, health and demography; Francis
Pangilinan—accounts; Jinggoy Estrada—labor and
employment; Alan Cayetano—Blue Ribbon and education;
Francisco Escudero—ways and means; Miguel Zubiri —urban
planning, housing and cooperatives; Mar Roxas—trade and
commerce; Rodolfo Biazon—national defense; Consuelo
Madrigal—peace and unification, youth and family
relations, and cultural communities; Loren Legarda—social
justice and economic affairs; Noynoy Aquino—local
governments; and Antonio Trillanes—civil service and
government reorganization, with Legarda as vice chair of
Trillanes.
Senator
Joker Arroyo and Panfilo Lacson declined offers to chair
any of the committees, but both would likely get seats
in the powerful Commission on Appointments. |
