First Gentleman’s camp ready to 'confront' World Bank exec

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo welcomed Tuesday the prospect of confronting World Bank officials at the Senate hearing on the alleged bid rigging in the WB-backed road projects. Mr. Arroyo's lawyer Ruy Rondain said the First Gentleman might even show up if he is invited to a possible Senate hearing attended by WB country director Bert Hofman. "Oh yes, yes! Based on what I saw in the newspapers, the WB report quoted only Confidential Witness 1 and so forth, who said they talked with fixers. All that is hearsay. I expect WB officials to say the same thing, so that will strengthen our case," Rondain said in an interview on dzXL radio. When asked if the First Gentleman will attend such a Senate hearing to confront WB executives, he said, "kung imbitahahin siya (if he is invited)." But he said that for now, they are waiting for the decision of Senate economic affairs committee chairperson Miriam Defensor Santiago. Santiago had said the committee will decide on the details of the next hearing after reading WB documents furnished by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Rondain noted. On the other hand, Rondain scored calls by some sectors to move the investigation to another committee, due to Santiago's alleged bias. Rondain said having the investigation moved to another committee will smack of forum-shopping. "In our profession there is such a thing as forum shopping. If you don't like the decision of a court, you switch and switch courts until you get the decision you like. Of course, I cannot control the Senate. The senators are supreme toward their peers; they can do what they like," he said in Filipino. But he said that if the investigation is yanked out from Santiago's committee, there will be questions on whether all the rulings Santiago made will be overruled. "I will not know the motivation for having another committee handle the investigation," he added. - GMANews.TV