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Sunday, August 24, 2003
Mike can defend self in laundering raps: Glo
MANILA -- President Arroyo said Saturday she would leave her husband to fend for himself against allegations of money-laundering, dismissing the furor as a plot to discredit her.
Mrs. Arroyo in her weekly radio program stressed, members of her family who are accused of irregularities do not enjoy the protection of her office.
"They are attacking the First Family to destroy the credibility of the President."
"There is an insidious attempt to sideswipe the Presidency because nobody has so far dug up anything that can put my office in a bad light," she said.
"My husband is not a ward of the Palace and if charges are filed against him, which we hope will be done, he will mount his legal defenses independently," she said.
Arroyo said in reference to allegations by opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson that here husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, had laundered money.
Arroyo stressed in a radio address that her husband had earlier challenged his accusers to present their evidence in court.
Not related
"I have intentionally stayed out of this as this is not related to my work as head of the Executive Department."
"I am leaving it to my husband to defend himself," the President said, adding "I am married to our country."
Arroyo did not dwell on the accusations against her husband, merely stating that "he and other members of my family do not enjoy protection from my office."
"I do not get involved in his personal work just as he is not allowed to get involved in the functions of government," she added.
Arroyo also said she was instituting reforms in the procurement service of the military following allegations of corruption in the services by rebel soldiers who mounted a short-lived mutiny on July 27.
She reiterated her government's campaign against corruption, saying "it is not just important to punish those who steal it but to also recover what they stole."
Critics
In recent months, Arroyo has mounted a campaign against corruption, including "lifestyle checks" of government employees to see who may be living beyond their means.
Critics have challenged Arroyo and her political allies to undergo the same sort of checks.
Expected
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye also disclosed Saturday that they expect more snide remarks from the critics of the First Gentleman.
Bunye's statement came following the claim of opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson that despite the findings of the PNP Crime Laboratory on the different handwritings of Atty. Arroyo and certain "Jose Pidal", Atty. Arroyo could and would not be able to wiggle his way out of the controversy.
Lacson earlier shrugged off the PNP finding on the signature of Pidal and Atty. Arroyo, adding that the First Gentleman continues to evade answering the questions on who Pidal is and his real relationship with him, including similarities like having the same office and adviser.
Lacson added that Atty. Arroyo is even "shaking in fear" because he has a lot of explaining to do once the Senate starts its inquiry on the Pidal accounts.
Bunye said Atty. Arroyo is open to attending the hearings at the Senate provided that he gets an invitation.(She Caguimbal-Torres/AFP)
(August 24, 2003 issue)
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