Friday, February 29, 2008 Mikey to Arroyo critics: Spare my father
PAMPANGA Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo on Thursday appealed to everyone particularly the administration critics to spare his father, First Gentleman Jose "Mike" Miguel Arroyo, who has been having "spates of high blood pressure."
The younger Arroyo said it is probably "due to anxiety" following the successive allegations hurled against him and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"My father has been having spates of high blood, probably because of anxiety so I appeal to them to spare my father. If they think there's anything on my father, let's go to the Office of the Ombudsman because there, the allegations will be governed by the rules of evidence and not on theatrics," he said.
Juris Soliman, chief of staff of the President's husband, said she has no personal knowledge about the spate of high blood pressures that the First Gentleman had suffered, but he had recently been to the St. Luke's Medical Center for his regular rehabilitation treatment.
Soliman also denied that FG Arroyo was rushed to the hospital as his condition became serious as some reported. He has been undergoing a twice-weekly therapy at St. Luke's Hospital since his heart surgery in April 2007.
She said she saw the First Gentleman last Wednesday at the LTA Building in Makati City as he checked on the scheduled activities of the First Gentleman Foundation and "he's okay."
The Pampanga lawmaker, although believing that Madriaga's testimony would not have much weight for mostly being hearsay, lamented the allegations of former ZTE consultant that his parents were part of a group of "greedy" people who supposedly benefited from the cancelled national broadband network (NBN) deal.
He said it is part of destabilization efforts against the Arroyo government.
"As I said, we are all here to bring about the truth. However, in searching for the truth we should not be selective, again we should give equal importance to the accuser and the accused," he said.
Donald Dee, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI), recommended that Madriaga be subjected to a credibility or psychological check. (JMR/Sunnex)
