IGGY ARROYO INVITED TO SENATE PROBE / GMA ALLOWED TO GO ABROAD FOR TREATMENT
MANILA, AUGUST 19, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) Written by : JAIME PILAPIL REPORTER - (PHOTO Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo)
SEN. Franklin Drilon on Tuesday said that it did not matter if Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo of Negros Occidental province was the signatory in the alleged Aircraft Fleet Service Agreement between Lion Air Inc. and LTA Inc., because his elder brother, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, is obviously the owner of the five helicopters purchased from the US in 2004.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) got a reprieve from the Supreme Court on whether it would grant Mike Arroyo's petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the watch list order (WLO) issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima against him.
Drilon said that Iggy would be invited to the August 22 hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee together with his older brother Mike, the husband of former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga province.
He added that Iggy has to explain why until May this year, LTA Inc. was paying maintenance and hangar fees to Lion Air if the helicopters were just being leased.
The senator said that the Arroyos would have to also explain why a certain Renato Sia, allegedly the firm's corporate secretary, signed the lease agreement in behalf of Lion Air when the trader was not yet connected with Lion Air in 2004.
Meanwhile, he announced that the blue ribbon committee was still waiting for the recommendation of Philippine Heart Center director general Manuel Chua Chiaco if Mike Arroyo is healthy enough to withstand pressure of being questioned at the Senate hearing.
The blue ribbon is investigating the 2009 purchase by the Philippine National Police of three helicopters, of which two that were second-hand units were passed off as brand-new.
Lion Air owner Archibald Po told the committee that the real owner of the choppers was Mike Arroyo.
He said that the husband of the former president used Asian Spirit, also a company formerly owned by Po, and Lion Air, in acquiring the choppers so he could hide his ownership.
Mike Arroyo, in defense, filed a perjury case against Po before the Pasay City (Metro Manila) Prosecutors Office, denying that he is the owner of the helicopters.
He presented the lease agreement between Lion Air and LTA Inc. as his primary evidence.
The Senate has granted Po an immunity from suit but this matter has not been settled by proper authorities. WITH REPORT FROM JOMAR CANLAS
FROM PHILSTAR
P-Noy will allow GMA to seek medical treatment abroad if needed By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated August 19, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino will not prevent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from seeking medical treatment abroad if needed.
"For humanitarian considerations, if she needs it, why not?" Aquino said in an interview with ABS-CBN Wednesday.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. agrees that the former president should not be barred from seeking medical treatment abroad.
Belmonte said he spoke with Arroyo's son, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo and asked him to relay his best wishes.
"Of course we will not stop her. There is no reason to stop her from getting the best medical attention," Belmonte said.
But Arroyo's attending physician Juliet Gopez-Cervantes denied that they recommended Arroyo to seek medical treatment outside the country.
Cervantes belied an earlier pronouncement of Arroyo's legal spokesperson Raul Lambino that his client was in critical condition and would have to seek treatment either in the United States or Singapore.
In a press briefing in Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Palace is not being soft on Mrs. Arroyo, only that the physicians' recommendations must be respected.
Arroyo had been placed under the Bureau of Immigration's hold departure order (HDO) list, but Lacierda said the former president can always ask permission for travel abroad.
"Number one, if the medical doctors find it necessary and the Arroyo family would request it from us as humanitarian gesture of course. If there are no medical facilities or medical expertise available in the Philippines, we will not deprive the Arroyo family of getting the best medical attention they can (get)," Lacierda said.
He recalled that the President's late father, former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was also permitted to seek medical treatment abroad.
"So it would be in consonance with the President's nature… for humanitarian purposes to allow such travel abroad for medical reasons," he said.
Asked if the government should ensure that Arroyo would return and not seek exile in any country, Lacierda said he is not aware of the requirements for lifting of the HDO.
"I don't know what would be the requirements here. But let's wait until they ask for that request," he said.
He added that there's no reason why Arroyo's request to get treatment abroad should be blocked, if no less than the President had indicated he sees no problem about it.
Lacierda also refused to say whether Arroyo could only go to countries with which the Philippines has an extradition treaty, as a condition for the former president to be allowed to leave.
"If it's medical attention (that she needs), the list of countries that got advanced medical facilities and expertise was clear," Lacierda said.
"I think it's something that we will wait for the medical doctors to recommend and for St. Luke's to claim that they do not have the medical facilities to attend (to Arroyo's ailment). But I think this is all in the realm of speculation because St. Luke's is saying they can handle the problem," he added.
Lacierda said the pending cases before the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman against Arroyo would also continue.
"She already filed her counter affidavit so the investigation will proceed," he said.
Arroyo's doctors set a third and two-stage spinal surgery for Arroyo on Tuesday that would get grafts from her pelvic bone and attach them to her cervical spine to strengthen it. The operation is in preparation for the reattachment of titanium implants and another operation in the future.
The Pampanga lawmaker failed to attend the sessions since late last month when she first underwent spinal surgery to relieve the painful pressure on her cervical spine. – With Paolo Romero
FROM MALAYA
Brother Act: How to roil the waters
Can senators be also called to attend House investigations? BY WENDELL VIGILIA
INTER-PARLIAMENTARY inquiry? Is a "summons" the same as "invitation"? If the Senate can compel a congressman to attend an inquiry, can the House also invoke the same right on senators?
If nothing else, these questions will at least roil the waters in the Senate Blue Ribbon probe of how second-hand helicopters were sold as brand new to the PNP.
Not to mention the possible hand of former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, and the subsequent claim of his brother, Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, that it was he who leased the helicopters, and not brother Mike.
The House has given the Senate the green light to invite Rep. Arroyo to appear before the inquiry.
But senators should also be ready to face congressmen if their presence is needed during House investigations, House majority leader Neptali Gonzales II said.
Gonzales said inter-parliamentary courtesy is an "informal" rule, and one which is "not in the rules of any chamber."
He said it is unlike the rule on subpoena or compulsion to appear, which he said is primary and is in the rules of each chamber.
"So theoretically the Senate can compel Iggy to appear," he said of the Senate's plan to call Arroyo to prove his claim that it was he, and not his brother former first gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, who leased five Robinson helicopters from Lionair Inc. in 2004, two of which were sold as brand new to the PNP in 2009.
The alleged anomalous sale is being investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee. Mike Arroyo reportedly owned the two choppers sold to the PNP.
Gonzales said if the Senate decides to compel Rep. Arroyo to attend its inquiry, it should realize that it will "open the door for the House to also compel attendance of senators in House inquiries."
The Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, in a letter to the House, invited Rep. Arroyo to its fourth hearing on Monday.
It also asked him to submit a sworn statement or affidavit detailing his "knowledge or participation" on the alleged anomalous acquisition of helicopters.
Several senators on Tuesday said Rep. Arroyo should appear before the Senate so he could prove his claim. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who initiated the inquiry into the alleged anomalous sale, said the Senate never mentioned Rep. Arroyo before in its investigation. "He was the one who joined this issue," he said.
Rep. Arroyo, who is reportedly in London seeking medical treatment, issued a statement on Monday belying the claim of Lionair president Archibald Po during a Senate hearing that the Robinsons choppers belonged to his brother.
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said Rep. Arroyo should not invoke inter-parliamentary courtesy as his involvement in the conspiracy, if true, has nothing to do about his working Congress."
"In fact, it is his duty to clear his name in the Senate and please, no more invoking his right to remain silent because he volunteered to come out to save his brother's and GMA's hides," he said.
Rep. Arroyo invoked the right to privacy several times in 2003 during Senate investigations on the "Jose Pidal" account which he claimed he owned. Lacson was saying then that the Jose Pidal account was a secret account of Mike Arroyo.
House minority leader Edcel Lagman said inter-parliamentary courtesy is a "tradition that we do not call the senators to our hearing and the senators should not call members of the House."
"That's the tradition on our inter-chamber courtesy but as far as I'm concerned, this is not a case for the legislature to investigate," he told reporters.
Lagman urged senators to just file complaints instead of wasting time and resources in "witch-hunting."
"Any person or group of persons who have evidence that a crime has been committed in relation to these helicopters should bring the necessary complaints to the prosecutorial and the judicial agencies of government," he said.
"Why should we waste time? Ang nangyayari there's a witch-hunting first then go to the prosecutor's office or to the judiciary later. Hindi yan ang kailangang gawin eh, kung sino ang may ebidensya na merong nagawang krimen dalahin sa husgado," he added.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, asked if the Senate has the power to compel Rep. Arroyo to appear at the hearing next week, said, "He claims to be the lessee. The evidence in the hands of the Senate is quite different. So, we will have to invite him to explain."
If Rep. Arroyo invokes inter-parliamentary courtesy, Enrile also said,
"I will leave it to the committee to dispose of that."
"As President of the Senate, I will not make any pronouncement because I do not know the thinking of the committee members," he added.
Church-based lay organizations joined calls for Rep. Arroyo to appear before the Senate.
Rep. Arroyo will appear to be fabricating stories if he does not face the Senate, said the Solidarity Philippines movement and the Promotion of Church People's Response.
"Since he himself admitted his role in the subject being probed, he must be decent enough to face the Senate probe and the Filipino people," said Fr. Joe Dizon, lead convenor of Solidarity Philippines. "If he doesn't, then, he is just lying and covering up for Mike Arroyo."
"It will just strengthen the view that they (Arroyos) are involved," said Nardy Sabino of PCPR. – With Gerard Naval
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