Arroyo won’t attend Senate probe on chopper deal due to ‘serious heart ailment’

MANILA, Philippines — Citing a “serious heart ailment” that may cause “sudden death”, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo said he won’t be able to attend this Thursday’s Senate inquiry into the alleged purchase of second-hand helicopters by the Philippine National Police.

Arroyo sent the letter to Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the blue ribbon committee, through his lawyer Inocencio Ferrer Jr. at 8:05 a.m.

“Although my client wants to assist the members of your honorable committee in its investigation, it is my client’s deepest regret to inform you that upon the advise of his doctors, he will not be ableto attend today’s hearing,” said Ferrer in the letter.

Ferrer said that Arroyo’s team of medical specialists, led by doctor Lorenzo Rommel Carino, advised the former first gentleman “not to attend the hearings because of my client’s heart ailment.”

Ferrer said that Arroyo was cautioned “that the presence of another tear or dissection could cause his sudden death.”

At the same time, Ferrer said that Arroyo was willing to submit himself to an examination where his medical records were readily availabe, by a Senate-designated physician who is competent on, and has personal expertise and experience in his medical condition known as “dissecting Aortic Aneurysm.”

But more importantly, the lawyer said, his client could not attend the hearing because he was now attending to his wife, former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who underwent a major operation to remove an infected implant in her cervical spine Wednesday.

The former first gentleman, who had undergone a major heart operation himself, has been tagged as the alleged owner of the helicopters that were sold to the PNP in 2009.

First posted 9:04 am | Thursday, August 11th, 2011