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Abalos denies March meeting with JDV son, Mike A.


Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos on Tuesday denied claims that he had an emotionally charged meeting with businessman Jose "Joey" de Venecia III and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo last March while the government was forging the controversy-ridden national broadband deal. GMA News Flash Report quoted Abalos as denying the slew of allegations hurled by De Venecia, who testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday that the elections chair stood to receive kickbacks and lobbied heavily in favor of ZTE Corp. of China. Abalos said he felt sorry that the First Gentleman's name has been dragged into the issue. He laughed off accusations that he threatened to kill De Venecia and columnist Jarius Bondoc, adding that it is not in his character to murder people. A separate report on dzBB radio said the poll chief insisted that he he does not want to speculate on De Venecia's motive for implicating him in the broadband controversy. De Venecia is co-owner of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., losing proponent of the broadband project. Abalos told dzBB radio that he is not yet sure if he would be able to attend Thursday's hearing on the ZTE controversy because he needs to attend to several things related to the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections on October 29. The poll chief was still deciding whether or not to send a representative to the next hearing of the Senate committees on defense, trade and blue ribbon. In his testimony before the Senate Tuesday, De Venecia said the First Gentleman pointed a finger at him and told him to "back off" from pursuing the broadband project. De Venecia said the alleged meeting happened in "mid-March" at a conference room diagonally across the veranda of Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City. He said Arroyo and Abalos at the time were with Jimmy Paz, retired police general Quirino dela Torre, one Leo San Miguel, and Ben Reyes. "It was Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos who fumed and raged at me when he found out that AHI (Amsterdam) would be pursuing its original contract as submitted to the (government) without the unnecessary government loan and guarantee," De Venecia said. However, he admitted that he is not personally aware if Arroyo and Abalos had met with ZTE officials. De Venecia identified Arroyo as the "mystery man" of the ZTE deal as mentioned in newspaper reports. However, he said he is not aware of Arroyo's role in the ZTE contract. Arroyo flew quietly to Hong Kong Monday, although it was not immediately clear if this was a connecting flight. De Venecia tried to explain to the First Gentleman the economic benefits of AHI's proposal, but Arroyo allegedly left him and went to the other side of the room. "He (Arroyo) refused to listen, he stood up and left ... So I ended up talking to no one," he said. As this developed, opposition lawmakers asserted that De Venecia's testimony will make the planned impeachment case against Abalos "more compelling." In a statement, House Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said De Venecia's statements exposes Abalos's possible culpability for graft and betrayal of public trust. "The statement, which was given under oath, would make Comelec Chair Abalos accountable for violating the Anti-Graft and Corruption Law and for betrayal of public trust," Hontiveros said. Hontiveros said she would immediately seek to convene the minority for an emergency meeting on the issue. "At the very least, the minority should meet to discuss whether the testimony is enough to impeach Abalos. Since Iloilo Vice-Governor Rolex Suplico has not filed his complaint yet, the minority might tackle the possibility of linking up with Jose de Venecia III about the matter," Hontiveros said. Hontiveros noted that a statement given under oath is strong enough to pin down Abalos, adding that if there would be other witnesses who will corroborate de Venecia's claims, "then the case [against Abalos] would be damning." - GMANews.TV

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