Palace wishes Mike Arroyo checkup goes well

Malacañang on Thursday wished former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s medical check-up in Hong Kong goes well. At a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said the Palace would just wait for Arroyo to make true his promise to return to the country on Monday. “We hope his check-up goes well. We have no reason to believe yet that his trip to Hong Kong was for something else...," she said. Mr Arroyo left Manila Sunday for a check-up on his heart condition in Hong Kong, according to his lawyer Inocencio Ferrer Jr. The former First Gentleman is facing a Senate blue ribbon committee's inquiry into the Philippine National Police's acquisition of multi-million-peso second-hand helicopters in 2009. Arroyo was said to be the previous owner of choppers that had been sold to the PNP as brand-new ones, but Arroyo denied the allegation last month. Mr. Arroyo was hospitalized in Hong Kong last April due to complications from the re-dissection of his thoracic aorta. Asked to comment on the timing of the "medical appointments" of the Arroyos (Mike and Rep. Gloria) every time they get tangled in controversies, Valte said the Palace can't do anything about their medical problems. “We’ve noticed that also. I think everybody has noticed that but despite those observations, kalusugan po yun e. Kahit naman po perceived opposition sila we do not wish ill on anybody," she said. She further said the option to go elsewhere to seek medical attention “is always available to those who can afford it." Valte, however, said “given the gravity of the allegations siguro kahit sino magkakasakit dahil sa mga binibintang pero hindi naman po ibig sabihin na sinasampahan ng kaso e, we wish them ill. Sabi nga ni Pangulo that would be unchristian." “Of course we wish them all well, we want them to have sound body and wellness," she said. — LBG, GMA News