Edong to GMA: It’s between you, Mike and ‘Jose Pidal’

Stick with controversial husband Jose Miguel Arroyo. Dumping him won’t shield you from the raging Jose Pidal controversy.

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara gave this unsolicited advice yesterday to Mrs. Arroyo in reaction to a suggestion from Lakas Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo I that the President should file a legal separation suit against her husband who finds himself in trouble every now and then.

Gunigundo made the suggestion in the wake of Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s accusations that the First Gentleman used the false name Jose Pidal to hide tens of millions in supposedly illegal funds.

Angara said dumping her husband won’t insulate the President from the Pidal controversy.

"Mrs. Arroyo cannot separate herself from her husband on this issue. Jose Miguel Arroyo’s properties are supposed to be the President’s properties. His bank accounts are her bank accounts," he said.

He said since the Arroyo couple are inextricably linked to each other, many people don’t believe that the President’s husband is "powerless," as he claimed in his testimony before the Senate two weeks ago.

He added that the First Gentleman’s hand can be seen in various appointments Mrs. Arroyo made in several government offices, including the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Pagcor chairman Ephraim Genuino and airport manager Edgardo Manda are close friends of the First Gentleman.

For his part, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said his colleagues should not meddle in the Arroyos’ marital affairs.

"Anything about their marriage is a private matter. Let’s not dwell into it. Let’s not interfere with them," he said.

In a recent television interview, the President’s husband admitted that the Jose Pidal controversy surrounding him and his alleged romantic affair with his personal secretary Victoria Toh have affected his wife and his only daughter Luli.

He said Luli has been avoiding him.

He asked for his family’s forgiveness for any impropriety on his part that the "tsismis" has brought about.

Lacson’s former star witness, Eugenio Mahusay Jr., a former messenger in the Arroyo’s LTA Realty Corp., has claimed that his godfather, the First Gentleman, and Toh were carrying on a "romantic" affair.

He affirmed this part of his testimony, along with other portions, in his revised affidavit, but denied calling Toh his ninong’s "kalaguyo" or mistress.