Businessman denies hand in cash gifts controversy

Businessman Reghis Romero II on Wednesday denied his alleged involvement in the distribution of cash gifts to congressmen and local government executives in Malacañang last month. GMA Flash Report said that in a statement, Melanie Siena Lapore, director for corporate communications of R-II Builders, Inc., said Romero denied the involvement of his company in any transaction related to the cash gifts controversy. “Reghis M. Romero II, chairman of the Board of R-II Builders, Inc. strongly denies any involvement of R-II Builders in the distribution of cash gifts to certain local government officials and congressmen in Malacañang," Lapore said in the statement. During the Senate hearing on the cash gifts mess earlier in the day, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson implicated Romero in the cash gift controversy, saying the money given to local government executive after a Malacañang meeting last October 11 may have been “laundered" through the businessman’s private bank account. Lacson said based on information from insiders at the Department of Budget and Management, the money used to fund the cash gifts was channeled though Romero, who has a P3-billion “collectible" from the government. - GMANews.TV