MANILA, Philippines -- Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo pleaded with critics of the First Family to "spare" his father, whom he said was suffering hypertension due to allegations he pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks from the botched national broadband network (NBN) project.

At the same time, the young Arroyo belittled the testimony of new Senate witness Dante Madriaga, calling it part of a "marketing strategy" to destabilize the government.

"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 the Ombudsman, because there the allegations will be governed by rules of evidence," the solon said in a chance interview with reporters in Malacañang.

Madriaga, who introduced himself as a consultant of China's ZTE Corp., told the Senate Tuesday that he received information that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo were among those who partook of an alleged $41-million advance from the company.

The Chinese telecoms firm won the contract for the NBN project that the President cancelled September last year after the Senate opened its inquiry into the allegations of bribery and overpricing surrounding the deal.

Asked about Madriaga, Representative Arroyo said: "As admitted by himself, all his testimonies are hearsay, double hearsay, and triple hearsay, so I don't think they will have any weight. I think it's just a marketing strategy."

"I think this whole thing is aimed to destabilize the government … 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," the lawmaker said.