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Sunday, September 14, 2003
Palace now wants Pidal probe continued
MANILA -- Malacaņang Saturday backtracked from its earlier position in asking the Senate to stop its investigation on First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo for the Jose Pidal accounts.
With administration senators controlling the inquiry, Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, this time said the Palace sees no reason to stop the probe contrary to an earlier statement saying the probe is distracting the public.
Bunye said the First Gentleman was invited and attended the hearing therefore there is no reason to stop the proceedings. He stressed that the President respected the Senate being an independent body.
On the other hand, the three Senate committees investigating the Jose Pidal accounts will convene on Monday in an executive session to resolve issues on whether to terminate or continue the inquiry.
Malacaņang at the same time challenged Sen. Sergio Osmena III to name Palace emissaries who reportedly pressure senators to stop the Jose Pidal investigation.
Osmeņa III said in a television interview, Friday, that two Malacaņang officials approached him and suggested that the three Senate committees stop their investigation on the Jose Pidal bank accounts.
A Palace statement quoted Gabriel Claudio, presidential legislative liaison office chief saying he was not one of those who are allegedly doing the pressuring.
"Sen. Sergio Osmeņa must be fair and forthright if he claims officials from Malacaņang called him to seek the termination of the Senate hearings on the Pidal case. He should name them," he said.
He said he should have been the "logical person" to get in touch with senators on matters related to legislation. "But the fact is I never called him," Claudio said in a statement.
Claudio said he last talked with Osmeņa in the afternoon after Ignacio Arroyo testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
According to him, it was the senator who called him up and reminded him to facilitate the constitution of a House bicameral panel for a farmland-as-collateral bill.
"That was all we talked about and the conversation was very brief. So who are the Palace officials he is referring to?" he said.
He said the Palace position remains that "it does not and will not interfere."
In a related development, Bunye also backtracked on his claim Friday branding as inaccurate a survey by Roper-ASW firm indicating many Filipinos believe the First Gentleman is Pidal.
"Wala tayong sinasabing ganyan. Alam mo, ang stand ng pangulo sa survey ay hindi ito ang end-all and be-all ng decision making ng pangulo, bagama't kinokonsulta niya at tinitingnan niya ang resulta but yung final decision is not driven by any particular survey (There is no such statement, the stand of the president on the survey is it's not the end-all and be-all in decision making, although she refers to this and check on the results but the final decision is not driven by any particular survey) ," he said.
Bunye earlier took exception to the survey conducted by New York-based Roper-ASW Asia Pacific and commissioned by BusinessWorld, which showed that 35 percent of Metro Manila residents believe Jose Pidal and Jose Miguel are one and the same person.
Only 24 percent cast doubts on the presidential couple's alleged involvement in money laundering their excess campaign funds last 1998, while 40 percent still doubt whether Mr. Arroyo indeed owned the Jose Pidal account.
The survey also said Manila residents believe that the economy cannot recover by the end of the year and will deteriorate in the next six months.
The survey also showed that 76 percent of the respondents believe the controversy swirling around Mrs. Arroyo would negatively hurt her chances of winning in next year's election in case she pursues her political ambition next year.
The respondents said Mrs. Arroyo's leadership got worse. More of them lost their trust in the Arroyo administration.
So far, he said the latest in-house survey he is aware of involved reactions to the July 27 Makati City mutiny.
In the Senate, the three Senate committees conducting an investigation on the controversial Jose Pidal accounts would convene on Monday in an executive meeting to resolve issues on whether to terminate or continue the said inquiry.
However, Sen. Joker Arroyo, chairman of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, expressed optimism that the Senate will finish the inquiry in aid of legislation and not just terminate it for other reasons like the alleged clamor from Malacanang to end the probe.
Arroyo earlier assured the public that the inquiry will definitely continue despite many heated arguments and clamors to discontinue the investigation. He said this is because the controversy has become a public issue.
Aside from the termination of the inquiry, the three committees would also discuss whether or not to allow Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo to continue invoking his right to privacy after the businessman insisted his constitutional rights as a private citizen should be respected.
"We'll come out with the resolution. The problem is that it is very difficult to gather the members around, but we will try to manage," Arroyo said.
Arroyo also reiterated his call to Sen. Panfilo Lacson to immediately return to the country and present documents to support his allegations against the First Gentleman.
The authority to travel given to Lacson will end Sunday, September 14, thus, his colleagues expect him to be back at the Senate by Monday to attend the executive session and the next scheduled hearing.
Arroyo reminded Lacson that he should stand as the prosecutor in this case and part of his responsibilities is the presentation of evidence to support his allegations.
Aside from the Blue Ribbon, the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws and the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies are also conducting inquiries on the banking transactions under the Jose Pidal accounts. (Sunnex)
(September 14, 2003 issue)
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