Mike Arroyo goes to Germany for medical checkup

UPDATED 1:00 p.m. - Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo went to Germany on Sunday night for a medical checkup, more than two weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) removed him from its watch list. Mr. Arroyo, who left aboard a Cathay Pacific CX-902 flight en route to Munich via Hong Kong, said he will look for a doctor specializing in stem cell research during his foreign trip. “[I] may need it for PGMA [President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] and me," he said in a text message a few message before boarding the plane. A separate report on Bombo Radyo said Mr. Arroyo is expected to return to the Philippines after a week. On September 1, the DOJ removed Mr. Arroyo from its watch list after the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee said it will no longer summon him to testify on the P104.9-million worth of used helicopters sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police in 2009. Mr. Arroyo had also been linked to several irregularities during the term of his wife, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. In 2007, Mr. Arroyo underwent surgery for aortic aneurysm. He was also hospitalized last April and went to Hong Kong for a check-up last month for the same condition - with Andreo Calonzo, VVP, GMA News