Bishop backs new probe of ‘Jose Pidal’

A ROMAN Catholic archbishop has expressed his support for a proposed reinvestigation of the “Jose Pidal” account.

“I think, for the sake of justice and truth, this matter should be pursued so that there will be closure,” retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz said on Thursday.

The controversial “Jose Pidal” account is a bank account that allegedly contained more than P300 million in campaign funds of then-president Gloria Arroyo.

During a Senate investigation in 2003, Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo Jr. of Negros Occidental province claimed ownership of the bank account to clear Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo—his brother and husband of Mrs. Arroyo—of corruption charges.

Rep. Arroyo died in London last week and Sen. Panfilo Lacson proposed the

reopening of the Senate’s investigation of the “Jose Pidal” account.

The senator has put at P4 billion the total of the bank account.

Cruz said that he understood Lacson’s resolve to revisit the case, saying that the senator is apparently convinced that the account belongs to Mrs. Arroyo’s husband.

“It’s understandable that Sen. Lacson would pursue the case. On my part, I think he is correct and therefore he should follow the dictate of reason,” he added.

“This will also help Iggy Arroyo who passed away to have his eternal rest,” the retired archbishop said.

The camp of Mike Arroyo also on Thursday downplayed Lacson’s claims on the alleged existence of the supposedly P4- billion “Jose Pidal” account—p2 billion owned by Iggy and P2 billion owned by Mike.

In a statement, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, legal counsel of and spokesman for Mike, said that Lacson was only “embarrassing himself” with such claims.

“The latest revelation of Sen. Panfilo Lacson regarding the alleged existence of secret bank accounts supposedly belonging to [ Mike] and his brother [ Iggy] is old hat,” Topacio added.

“Mr. Lacson has been bandying this canard since 2003, and has been periodically resurrecting the same, but in all instances he has only succeeded in embarrassing himself as he has been unable to make the charge stick. Now, for reasons known only to himself, he has once again regurgitated the same old tired is- sue,” he said.

According to Topacio, Mike Arroyo has denied the existence of such bank account supposedly under his name.

“We dare Mr. Lacson, who says that he has documents to prove the existence of these accounts, to put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, and bare these documents to media and the public right now, so that their authenticity may be subject to public scrutiny,” he said.

“We [ also] dare Mr. Lacson to immediately file appropriate criminal charges against [ Mike Arroyo] arising from the alleged existence of the said bank accounts, so that the so- called evidence in his possession may also be subjected to judicial scrutiny,” Topacio added.

He said that should there be any existing bank accounts, they would be willfully be waiving the proceeds.

Topacio, however, added that they were suggesting that the proceeds be given to the families of the victims of the alleged Kuratong Baleleng rubout case or to the family of the late Emmanuel Corbito, driver of slain publicist Bubby Dacer.

Should Lacson fail to prove such claimss, he asked the senator to be man enough to issue an apology and donate P2 billion of his money to “the charity of his choice.”

Topacio said that the senator has been “able to get away with so much for so long due to deft political maneuverings and a well-oiled publicity machine.”