Mr. Arroyo made the announcement in Palawan, apparently in reaction to "intrigues that he is using his projects, particularly those benefiting military and police personnel, to check on the loyalty of the uniformed services of government," a Malacañang press statement said.
"What can I do? There have been so (many) intrigues being generated by these rumor-mongers who do nothing to help our fellow Filipinos," Mr. Arroyo said in a telephone interview. "I’ll just take a rest."
The First Gentleman funds various charity projects, including the "Bagong Ngiti sa Dating Ngebu" free dentures project, "Bagong Mata Para sa may Katarata" cataract removal surgery and similar medical missions that provide free assistance to indigent kidney patients and children afflicted with meningitis and hydrocephalus.
Mr. Arroyo flew to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command in Puerto Princesa City to lead the ceremonial fitting and distribution of free dentures to 444 Western Command soldiers and civilian personnel and their dependents.
"You are lucky because you are the last batch of my project’s beneficiaries," he said.
Earlier reports quoted President Arroyo as saying she would ask her husband to discontinue his free dentures project for military and police personnel because certain quarters were ascribing political color to the program.
Philippine General Hospital director Dr. Carmelo Alfiler lamented that the poor would be the first to suffer from the First Gentleman’s decision to terminate his charity work.
Speaking in reaction to Mr. Arroyo’s statement, Alfiler said he would ask the President and the First Gentleman to continue his "honest-to-goodness projects and real charity projects such as his financial support for the chemotherapy of cancer patients, hydrocephalus and meningocoele mission and free kidney transplants."
Isabela Southern District Hospital chief Ildefonso Costales said the poor will end up the losers, adding that he is sorry about the cancellation of Mr. Arroyo’s charity projects.
Costales asked the First Gentleman not to be bothered by the insinuations hurled against him and to continue his projects because many poor people look to him as their last hope.
The free dentures project was initially intended for indigent vendors in Metro Manila’s public markets and was launched on Oct. 27, 2004. It was later expanded to include other indigent and marginalized groups – including Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel and their dependents, PGH employees and utility workers, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcers and metro aides, National Park Development Authority (NPDA) employees and attendants in Rizal Park and Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna and PNP and AFP personnel.