Lozada has no moral stature to criticize President – Rep. Mikey Arroyo

Published February 10, 2008 8:42pm

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Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel â€œMikey" Arroyo on Sunday taunted Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr as â€œalso not morally upright" to accuse the administration of President Gloria Arroyo of corruption. In an interview with reporters, the lawmaker recalled the alleged shortcomings of Lozada during his stint as head of the Philippine Forest Corp., including a P5-million insurance policy that Lozada approved even though the broker was his wife, Maria Violeta, who was an insurance agent of Insular Life. Arroyo urged Lozada to bring his evidence to court. "Yung sinasabi naman ni Ginoong Jun Lozada ay puro haka-haka lang," Arroyo said. "Wala naman siyang pruweba saka ito naman ay dati pang paratang. He should go to the proper court where his testimony or allegation would be based on hard evidence rather than emotion and hearsay." The Presidentâ€™s son also slammed former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, saying: "He works in the middle of all these government transactions. As a good Speaker he shouldnâ€™t do that. He shouldnâ€™t go to that level." Before being replaced by Rep. Prospero Nograles, De Venecia made a privilege speech in which he criticized the Arroyo administration of engaging in questionable deals. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV

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