Note in Neri letter was 'FGI,' not 'FG' - NEDA

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Wednesday belied an opposition senator's claim that a letter sent by former NEDA chief Romulo Neri to the Chinese government had a marginal note: "copy for FG," supposedly referring to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo who is being linked to alleged anomalies in the controversial national broadband network (NBN) project. In a statement, NEDA said Sen. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal may be referring to a marginal note which states "copy for FGI/PIS" in Neri's letter to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Li Jinjun which was dated March 29, 2007. NEDA said the initials "FGI/PIS" actually stands for the name of a NEDA official and his division that handles all Chinese-funded projects. In Tuesday's Senate hearing on the controversial NBN deal with China's ZTE Corp., Madrigal said that in the said letter Neri thanked the ambassador for the China’s support on the cyber-education and NBN projects, and that the marginal note “copy for FG" clearly showed that the First Gentleman was deeply involved in the project. "The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is issuing this statement to shed light on the letter of former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo L. Neri to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Li Jinjun dated 29 March 2007 presented by Senator Jamby Madrigal during the Senate hearing on the National Broadband Network project yesterday 26 February 2008," NEDA said. "To set the records straight, the complete phrase handwritten on the upper right hand corner of the letter that NEDA possesses is “copy for FGI/PIS". The initials “FGI" stands for Florante G. Igtiben while the acronym PIS refers to the Public Investment Staff of NEDA. Mr. Igtiben is the chief of the Asia Pacific Division of PIS which handles all projects funded by China," it added. In an interview, Igtiben confirmed that he was “FGI" referred to in the letter. “It was not the First Gentleman. It's FGI- it's Florante G. Igtiben and it's me," he said. - GMANews.TV