Just a media spin, Arroyo says of 'lucky bitch' remark

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday blamed the media for the "lucky bitch" remark of Albay Gov. Jose Celmente "Joey" Salceda. In an interview with radio dzRH, Mrs Arroyo said that because of media spin the "lucky bitch" remark sounded as if Salceda was making a statement against her. "Kawawa ang isa kong dating member of the Cabinet. Kasi in fact 'yong araw na kino-quote siya, eh ako I was out in the field, so di ko naman nasubaybay 'yan. Biglang nakatanggap ako ng text message galing sa kanya na nag-a-apologize, at sinabi raw niya in the context of affection. Di ko alam kung ano ina-apologize-an niya (I pity my former Cabinet member. On the day he was quoted, I was out in the field, so I did not understand at first why he sent me text messages of apologies, where he said his remarks were made in the context of affection. I don't know why he was apologizing)," she said. Salceda, during an economic forum in Makati City had referred to Mrs Arroyo as a "lucky bitch" because of the continued economic growth under her watch. He said he apologized to her because he realized it was not appropriate to make a joke at her expense. He said he sent Mrs Arroyo three text messages but did not get a reply. Mrs Arroyo acknowledged she received Salceda's text messages. "Ang quote pala sinabi niya, if she is a bitch she's one lucky bitch, dahil maganda ang ekonomiya. 'Yan ang context noon. So talagang ang mga sinasabi na sinabi nito ganyan...sinabi niya ganyan, panay hakahaka... bukambibig. Ito ay galing sa burak ng tsismis, sabi-sabi at batikos (It turned out that Salceda meant that 'if she's a bitch she's one lucky bitch' because the economy is doing well. That was the context. So the reports of him calling me names was just vicious rumor)," Arroyo said. "Kaya nakakalungkot na bumababa sa ganitong desperadong paninira ang mga kalaban sa pulitika (It is sad that some of my political opponents go down to this level of criticizing me)," she added. - GMANews.TV