Iggy defends Mike Arroyo: He was not in Wack-Wack

Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy" Arroyo on Tuesday defended First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo from accusations that the latter influenced a company owned by the son of Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr to back out from a multi-million project to put up a national broadband network for the government, radio dzBB reported. Iggy reportedly denied that his brother tried to stop the speaker’s son, Jose “Joey" De Venecia III, from pursuing the project. De Venecia is co-owner of the Amsterdam Holdings, Inc., one of the bidders of the broadband project that was bagged in April by China’s ZTE Corp for $329.4 million (P16 billion). In his testimony before the Senate on Tuesday, De Venecia said the First Gentleman pointed a finger at him and gave him the stern message during a "reconciliatory" meeting in the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City. He said Arroyo at the time were with Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr, Jimmy Paz, retired police general Quirino dela Torre, one Leo San Miguel, and Ben Reyes. Iggy countered the claims and said that De Venecia was not saying the truth because “that meeting never happened." The report quoted Iggy as saying that he was told by people from Wack-Wack and those who accompanied his brother that they didn’t see the First Gentleman talking to De Venecia during the supposed meeting last March. The lawmaker also reportedly said that his brother does not meddle with government projects, adding that the First Gentleman’s trip abroad was not in any way related to the on-going Senate inquiry on the ZTE deal. He said the First Gentleman could have stayed in the country and explained his side had he known about De Venecia’s damaging testimony. - GMANews.TV