Bookkeeper: Arroyo firm only leased controversial choppers

A former bookkeeper of the Arroyo-owned company LTA Inc. on Monday backed the claims of Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy" Arroyo that the choppers sold to the Philippine National Police (PNP) were only leased by the company and were not owned by First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo. "Ang pagkakaalam ko ang LTA Inc. ay umupa ng mga helicopter mula sa Lionair Inc.," said Rowena del Rosario during Monday's Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the PNP choppers mess. She likewise said that Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy" Arroyo only asked her to pay Lionair whenever there was a billing from the aircraft company. She said the lawmaker brought the money personally every time. However, Edith Solano-Juguan, Lionair marketing manager, said she rarely saw Iggy at the LTA office. She likewise said the people she usually saw there were Mike Arroyo and Del Rosario. Senate blue ribbon committte chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona likewise asked why LTA would pay for the maintenance fees of the choppers until May 2011 when the lease agreement was supposed to have expired in May 2004. Del Rosario, however, said she was only following the instructions of Iggy, adding that they did not record the said transactions. Senate President Pro Tempore, meanwhile, asked why and how Del Rosario was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Pag-IBIG board of trustees. Del Rosario said she does not know why she was appointed and that she does not know what qualifications she had to get the position. "Di ko po alam basta privilege," she said, adding she was given a service, driver, and cellphone. But she said she only received a per diem of P1,000 per board meeting. Del Rosario said she left LTA last July to give more time to her family. She worked for the company for 11 years. - VVP, GMA News