Mike A goes back to exile today

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is leaving again for the United States this morning, claiming his continued exile would help protect President Arroyo and the First Family from "vicious political attacks."

The First Gentleman is taking a 5:30 a.m. Philippine Airlines flight PR 104 to San Francisco, and hopes his exit will end speculations about whether he planned to resume his exile after returning here last July 31 to attend the burial of a sister.

Arroyo and his son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, left the country last June 29 to ease public criticism of the First Family brought about by an ongoing jueteng scandal. Mrs. Arroyo also suspended her husband’s charity operations, which had become a magnet for controversy and criticism.

The latest exodus was apparently Mrs. Arroyo’s idea.

"She (Mrs. Arroyo) told me the other day that I have to leave very soon. So I decided to leave tomorrow," Arroyo said in a telephone interview.

He clarified, however, that the indefinite leave taken by he and his son was not an exile but "a withdrawal and sacrifice" to protect the family from further political controversy.

Mr. Arroyo arrived last July 31 to bury his eldest half-sister, Rosario Tuason Matute Llora. His time here since, he said, was spent with the family and meeting with relatives. Malacañang officials had said the First Gentleman would leave shortly after the burial last Aug. 1.

The First Gentleman lamented that he and the President were not able to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary last Aug. 1. He also dismissed rumors that he might have had a hand in recent retractions by witnesses against the First Family in the jueteng controversy, saying: "I think that’s just too much."

"I came home to grieve and bury my sister," Mr. Arroyo said.

In a press briefing at Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that despite the retraction of testimonies of two anti-Arroyo witnesses, the First Gentleman and his son are likely to remain abroad.

He said he was saddened by the various charity work and sports programs halted due to the controversy.

Mr. Arroyo said even his project to provide free dentures to military and police personnel was turned into a political issue by the opposition. He said perhaps the indigent patients should now go to his critics for help.

"Never mind the dentures, but what about those (patients) whom we promised corneal transplants, cataract operations, and even kidney patients who have life-threatening conditions?" he said.

Mr. Arroyo’s chief of staff, Juris Soliman, said more than 40 kidney and cancer patients who were scheduled for operations to be funded by their office are now uncertain as to how they will receive treatment.

"If they want to attack me, they can do so but they should not include my charitable activities. They should not impute any malice to them because many poor people with serious ailments are being deprived of assistance," the First Gentleman said. — Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda