House team leaves for Germany to check on FG accounts

Three members of the House of Representatives’ ethics committee left for Munich, Germany, yesterday to verify the allegations of Deputy Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is maintaining a secret account in a German bank.

Bohol Rep. Roberto Cajes, chairman of the ethics panel, was accompanied by Reps. Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur and Rodante Marcoleta of the party-list group Alagad.

The congressmen are set to meet with officials of the Hypovereins Bank in Munich on Feb. 2 to verify the alleged Arroyo account and the team will be back in Manila either on Feb. 4 or 5.

The panel had been investigating the allegations of Cayetano, a senatorial aspirant, that the Arroyos stashed millions of dollars in Germany. Several members of the Arroyo family have sought the expulsion of Cayetano from the House.

Opposition Reps. Etta Rosales of Akbayan party-list group and Roilo Golez of Parañaque have earlier declined to join the Cajes team, as House Minority Leader Francis Escudero branded the trip as a "junket."

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers, who heads the House accounts committee, said no money for the German trip was released by the House.— Delon Porcalla, Rainer Allan Ronda