Mike Arroyo begs off from Senate hearing on 'choppers mess'

UPDATED 5:04 p.m. - Citing health reasons, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo begged off from the Senate blue ribbon committee's investigation on the pre-owned helicopters that were sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 2009. "Although my client wants to assist the members of your honorable committee in its investigation, it is with my client's deepest regret to inform you that upon the advise of his doctors, he will not be able to attend today's hearing," Mr. Arroyo's lawyer Inocencio Ferrer said in a letter to the Senate blue ribbon committee. Ferrer said that Arroyo's team of medical specialists, lead by Dr. Lorenzo Rommel Carino, advised the former first gentleman not to attend the hearings because of his serious heart ailment. "The physicians have cautioned my client that the presence of another tear or dissection in his heart could cause his sudden death," he said. According to the medical certificate issued by cardiologist Jose Nicholas Cruz and caridovascular surgeon of the St. Luke's Medical Center, Arroyo underwent several dissections of the aorta over the years. "The presence of another tear or dissection could precipitate ryupture or sudden death," they said in the certificate dated August 10. Ferrer said that if the blue ribbon committee wants to verify Arroyo's medical condition, the former first gentleman is willing to be examined in any hospital by a Senate-designated physician who has expertise in his condition called "dissecting aortic aneurysm." "We are seeking for your kind understanding on Atty. Arroyo's medical condition," he said. Verification of Mr. Arroyo's medical condition At the start of the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, its chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III ordered that a government together together with a Senate physician examine the "veracity" of the medical condition of Mr. Arroyo. Sen. Franklin Drilon, for his part, asked that the executive director of the Philippine Heart Center be the government doctor to examine the former first gentleman. But aside from this, Ferrer said that the former first gentleman won't be able to appear before the Senate panel because he is attending to his wife, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who underwent a major operation on Wednesday. Mr. Arroyo was invited to the Senate hearings on the P104.9-million sale of used helicopters to the PNP. Expected In Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said they already expected Mr. Arroyo to skip the day's hearing. "We knew when he came back and he gave his arrival statement that he was less than forthright with his intentions of not going to... not appearing at the Senate investigation. He just said that ‘I’m back’ but he didn’t say anything about participating," Valte said. "So, again, we’re not disappointed. We expected that he would not attend," she added. Tagged as previous owner of choppers Last week, Lion Air president Archibald Legaspi Po confirmed that Mr. Arroyo was the previous owner of the choppers that were sold as brand new to the PNP in 2009. Manila Aerospace Trading Corporation (MAPTRA) president Hilario De Vera likewise said that the former first gentleman had already made a deal with PNP officials so that they would accept the choppers without question. Po and De Vera, however, could not present documentary evidence that Arroyo was the owner of the controversial choppers. On Tuesday, Lacson said that he will present new witnesses to implicate the former first gentleman. Meanwhile, Arroyo's employee Rowena del Rosario, who was also invited to the Senate hearing, also begged off from Thursday's probe. Guingona said del Rosario sent them a letter saying that she just received notice of the hearing and that she would like some time to hire and consult a lawyer. Drilon, for his part, asked the Senate panel to subpoena del Rosario's records at the Pag-IBIG, where she was reportedly appointed by former Pres. Arroyo in 2005. - GMA News