With a finger pointed directly at the face of Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico who was seated beside him, businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III reenacted his encounter with First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo last March, where the latter reportedly told him to “back off” from the controversial $320-million National Broadband Network project with ZTE Corp.

The namesake and son of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. finally tagged Mr. Arroyo as the “mystery man” who was present in the reconciliatory meeting between him and Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos, the alleged broker in the supposedly overpriced contract. (Read De Venecia’s statement here)

De Venecia told a Senate hearing that President Arroyo herself knew about the contract. Quoting information relayed to him by his father, De Venecia said President Arroyo played golf with ZTE officials when she went to China with her family in October last year. The project was still in its initial stages then.

De Venecia said the President was surprised to see Abalos at the golf course with the ZTE officials. The deal was discussed with the President, who reportedly advised Abalos to follow the “build-operate-transfer” (BOT) scheme that De Venecia’s company had proposed, according to the young De Venecia. He said he got this information from Speaker De Venecia, who was part of the presidential entourage in China and who told him about the incident after returning to Manila.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee that conducted the hearing, said De Venecia’s testimony showed that President Arroyo “knew more” about the contract.

Cayetano however, said it remains a “mystery” if the President was aware of the alleged kickbacks behind the deal. De Venecia has claimed that bribery tainted the contract, which was allegedly overpriced by 100 percent or US$130 million dollars.

Pressed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson on the President’s possible role in the alleged bribery, De Venecia said: “She knew about the contract, but I cannot speculate about the kickbacks.”

In today’s hearing, De Venecia said First Gentleman Mike. Arroyo was present at the meeting that was arranged by Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza at the posh Wack Wack golf club in Mandaluyong City, supposedly meant for De Venecia and Abalos to patch things up.

De Venecia’s firm, Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. (AHI), lost the broadband deal to ZTE, which Abalos reportedly assisted.

Also present in that meeting, according De Venecia, were Abalos’ chief of staff Jimmy Paz, businessman Ruben Reyes, a certain Leo San Miguel and one retired general Quirino dela Torre. (Read more about Ruben Reyes here)

De Venecia said that he tried to explain to Mr. Arroyo that the BOT proposal of AHI, where he is a beneficial owner and stockholder, was far superior to ZTE’s. But the First Gentleman cut him off, poked his finger at him and told him to “ “back off.”

Asked by Sen. Francis Escudero what Mr. Arroyo could have meant when he said “back off,” De Venecia said: “My impression was [that it meant that I should] withdraw the AHI BOT application.”

De Venecia said he explained to Mr. Arroyo that the AHI proposal would not cost the government, unlike ZTE’s scheme, which carried a sovereign guarantee. The First Gentleman didn’t listen to him, and instead stood up and walked to another table, according to De Venecia.

“I ended up talking to nobody.” De Venecia stressed however that Mr. Arroyo’s exact role in the broadband project “is…still unclear to me.”

“I only know that he was present at (the) meeting…needless to state, the ZTE broadband project was discussed openly in the meeting.”

Mr. Arroyo’s spokesman, lawyer Jesus Santos, said in a statement that the First Gentleman “does not, and will never interfere, in any government transaction.” He appealed to “detractors of the government to spare the First Gentleman from their rumor mills and black propaganda.”

Pressed by senators on President Arroyo’s possible involvement in the alleged anomalous contract, De Venecia stressed that he has no personal knowledge to support this suggestion.

He reiterated that the overprice amount was intended “to accommodate the advances and kickbacks to be received by this powerful person.” That powerful person was Abalos who, De Venecia said, “stood to receive for himself any kickbacks from the colossal overpricing of the…project.”

Abalos didn’t show up at the hearing.

Aside from De Venecia, only Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc, who exposed the deal, Suplico, who filed a case against ZTE with the Supreme Court, and Ramon Sales, former chair of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, attended the hearing.

Jose De Venecia III (right) reenacts his encounter with First Gentleman Mike Arroyo during a Senate hearing. Photo by Luis Liwanag.

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