Businessman Ruben Reyes, rumored to be a close friend of President Arroyo's brother, Diosdado Macapagal Jr., is the guy to approach if you want help in business transactions with the government, a new witness in the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp. of China said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson's surprise witness, a cable television executive, Leo San Miguel, described Reyes at the Senate hearing as the leader of a "Filipino group that handles ZTE outside of the technical" and "that means maybe approval and coordination on a higher level."

"My view on this whole thing is, in any business transactions [with the government], you always need a Filipino group to be able to help you, and that is Mr. Ruben Reyes," San Miguel said as he insisted that the senators should not ask him about the alleged bribery involved in the approval of the NBN-ZTE deal.

Lacson earlier said San Miguel may have first-hand information on the ZTE Corp.'s purported $41-million kickback to the Mrs. Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo and other government officials to secure the allegedly overpriced $329-million project.

San Miguel also corroborated earlier allegations that former polls chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. was directly involved in the NBN-ZTE deal transactions.

"The participation of Chairman Abalos, in my vantage point of view, in some meetings, Chairman Abalos is there together with Ruben Reyes," he said, adding that the two are close friends.

He added that Abalos, whom he said was part of Reyes's Filipino group, was present five times in some meetings that he attended with ZTE officials.

Reyes, who was also invited to attend the Senate hearing, sent a regret letter informing the upper chamber that he was in a business trip to China.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Blue-Ribbon Committee, said his committee will ask the Bureau of Immigration if Reyes left the country before or after he received the subpoena.

Senators have yet to determine if Reyes should be cited in contempt and issued with an arrest warrant for his second refusal to attend the hearing.

Earlier in his testimony, San Miguel hinted that there may be bribery involved in the awarding of the NBN project to ZTE Corp.

However, the technical expert denied having direct knowledge on the alleged bribery, insisting that his role in the NBN-ZTE deal was limited to his technical expertise.

"I don't know if I can call it advances because this wasn't part of my transaction with ZTE. I could not confirm such advances because my role was very limited to technical issues," he said.

He insisted that he is not trying be "difficult" with the senators. "I'm just saying I don't know. I don't have direct knowledge, but logic states maybe there is, I just don't know."

Former Senator Ramon 'Jun' Magsaysay told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that San Miguel is a technical expert in the cable television industry.

"I’ve known Leo for 20 years. He is a professional, an electrical and communications engineer. Into broadband, cable TV. He was the first COO of Home Cable, which acquired Sining Makulay," he said.

"He plays golf, gets around, has military friends," said Magsaysay, who is a cable TV industry leader.