MANILA, Philippines?The husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday accused critics of trying to finish him off by continually linking him to bribery scandals.

?They want to kill me, but these people can?t kill me,? First Gentleman Jose Miguel ?Mike? Arroyo told reporters in the lobby of St. Luke?s Medical Center in Quezon City, as he emerged from a three-hour rehabilitation session.

Arroyo was replying to a question by reporters as to why his name was continually being linked to bribery scandals.

He was in the hospital for his regular therapy since undergoing high-risk open heart surgery in April 2007 for a dissecting aortic aneurysm.

For health reasons, he skipped the resumption Thursday of the Senate investigation of alleged bid rigging in World Bank-funded road projects.

All hearsay

Arroyo said he was innocent of all the accusations hurled against him.

?I don?t know why I am being investigated. No one had come up with evidence and no case had been filed against me. They are all hearsay,? he said.

He cited the exposé of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that the First Family had a multimillion-dollar account in a bank in Germany. The bank later issued a certification that the Arroyos had no transaction with it.

Blaming Cayetano

Arroyo blamed Cayetano for his medical condition. ?I don?t want to die yet ... Because after he said I had this account in HypoVeriens bank, which turned out to be false, I had a bypass and aortic surgery,? he said.

?He should know what he had caused me. Imagine I?m innocent, but I have to prove my innocence,? Arroyo said.

Upon his doctors? advice, he said he would not attend the Senate inquiry being conducted by the economic affairs committee chaired by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

?My health is more important and besides Miriam (Santiago) agreed to let me do an interrogatory, which I think is best,? he said.

Written questions

Arroyo said he preferred to answer written questions.

To show that he was not fit to attend the inquiry, he said: ?In a scale of 1 to 10, ?my condition is rated 9.? That?s how dangerous it is.?

The President?s husband said he did not want to be part of the 50 percent who died five years after undergoing the operation that he underwent.

Because of the threat to his health posed by the [libel] cases he filed against media people, Arroyo said he had decided to withdraw the cases. ?I forgave them already,? he said of the media people.

Despite of his name being dragged into various scandals, Arroyo said he had no plans of filing charges against anyone.

?I no longer want to be stressed out again, and I will no longer file any case against my critics,? he said.

Japanese contractor

Arroyo denied meeting the Japanese contractor Tomatu Suzuka.

In excerpts of the World Bank report on the rigged bidding of its projects, Suzuka said he had met with the President?s husband and Sen. Robert Barbers. The report said ?Suzuka stated that Senator Barbers and Mr. Arroyo ?first discussed bribes? and that they had a ?rough approach.??

Arroyo said it was ?foolish, ridiculous and outrageous to discuss with someone over bribe money. I never asked for any bribe and he (Suzuka) did not give me any money.?

Godparents

The President?s husband also said that he did not know any of the contractors blacklisted by the World Bank, but admitted knowing Eduardo de Luna, owner of E.C. de Luna Construction Corp.

He described De Luna as an acquaintance because they were both godfathers of the child of Resty de Quiros, a former radio reporter and now a director of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Arroyo said he had asked Sen. Panfilo Lacson to provide him with a copy of the World Bank report.

?Since he (Lacson) was the one who released it, then he should provide us a copy, but until now he had not responded,? Arroyo said.

Except for what he reads in the newspapers he does not know more about the issue, he said.

Arroyo expressed disappointment over the World Bank?s inability to furnish him with a copy of the report that implicates him in the alleged collusion among contractors.

?It?s useless to ask a copy from them. They did not even give Malacañang a copy when they asked for one,? he said when asked why he did not ask a copy from the World Bank.