MANILA, Philippines—Former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. believes Malacañang had a hand in the sudden cancellation of his booking at the Philippine Center in New York for the launch of his biography next week.

De Venecia Thursday said he was informed of the cancellation Wednesday night by his wife Gina, and that Philippine Ambassador to the United States Willy Gaa had issued a memorandum seeking the cancellation.

“It is clear there is an order from Malacañang,” he said in a phone interview. “How vicious, how mean.”

De Venecia denounced the move as politically motivated and a form of “harassment.”

The Philippine Center building on New York’s 5th Avenue houses the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Told of De Venecia’s gripes, deputy presidential spokesperson Anthony Golez said: “I’m sure there’s a reason for [the cancellation], but the Palace doesn’t have a hand in it. We are not in the business of harassing people.”

Blame game

“He might be caught jaywalking someday and still blame it on the government,” Golez said in Filipino.

Also sought for comment, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was still awaiting feedback from Gaa’s office in the United States at press time.

Once a staunch defender of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, De Venecia joined the ranks of her critics following his ouster in February this year.

His falling out with the President stemmed from his son Joey’s allegations of corruption against the First Couple and other top officials in connection with the scuttled NBN-ZTE contract. The younger De Venecia, a businessman, had tried but failed to bag the contract.

Congressman De Venecia Thursday said reservations were made last week at the Philippine Center for the Dec. 3 launch of his biography, “Global Filipino: The Authorized Biography of Jose de Venecia Jr., the Visionary Five-Time Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.”

Invites already out

Invitations indicating the Philippine Center as the venue for the launch had already been sent when the booking was canceled, he said.

But a public relations coordinator for Gina de Venecia said the launch would push through on Dec. 4 at another New York venue.

According to the former Speaker, the launch was organized by Filipino community leaders in New York and New Jersey, among them, Irma Santiago of Ina Foundation and Vivian Talambires, a former president of the Assumption Alumni Association.

The biography details his supposed knowledge of the President’s involvement in the scandal-tainted National Broadband Network (NBN) deal between the government and China’s ZTE Corp., as well as the alleged bribery of public officials that took place right in Malacañang.

The biography will also be launched in Washington, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. With a report from TJ Burgonio