Mike Arroyo to skip Senate probe on ZTE-NBN mess - lawyer

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo will not attend next week’s Senate hearing on the botched and allegedly anomalous $329.4-million national broadband network deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp., his lawyer said on Sunday. In a radio interview, Ruy Rondain said he would just give the Senate blue ribbon committee copies of the three affidavits that Mr. Arroyo submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, which also investigated the case. He added that Mr. Arroyo does not have anything new to say regarding the deal, which was signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in April 2007 but canceled months later after reports of bribery came out. On Thursday, the Ombudsman recommended that former Elections chief Benjamin Abalos and incumbent Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri be charged in relation to the deal. It however cleared the Arroyo couple, a decision that did not sit well with two of the anomaly’s whistleblowers, Jose De Venecia III and Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. Rondain said he is happy that the Ombudsman has cleared President Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo of involvement in the botched broadband deal. “Hindi naman kagulat-gulat iyan dahil from the start sinasabi ko naman na walang solid evidence laban kay FG. Puro speculation lang naman at conjecture," Rondain said. (The Ombudsman decision was not surprising. Ever since we’ve been saying that the accusations against the First Gentleman were all based on speculations.) Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez, a batchmate of Mr. Arroyo at the Ateneo Law School, inhibited herself from the case. - GMANews.TV