Mike Arroyo on family amid ZTE scandal: We’re okay

We’re okay. This was the curt reply by First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo when asked Tuesday how he and his family are doing in the face of yet another political storm spawned by the recent revelations on the botched broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp. "I’m okay. The family is okay," Mr Arroyo told reporters as he went up the Rizal Hall staircase. Mr Arroyo was in jogging pants and running shoes topped by a blue shirt when he smiled and acknowledged the presence of journalists who were waiting for government officials to be interviewed at the Palace lobby. At the time, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Cabinet were having a meeting upstairs at the Aguinaldo Shrine dining room. Mr Arroyo said he had just come from therapy as he is still recovering from a heart surgery last year. Early this month, Mr Arroyo was again dragged into the ZTE controversy when Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr said it was he whom resigned Commission on Elections chair Banjamin Abalos called up to insist on the project with ZTE Corp. Lozada had also accused Abalos of seeking a $130-million commission from the deal. Both Mr Arroyo and Abalos have denied any role in the alleged overpricing of the aborted deal. The first time Mr Arroyo came into the picture of the ZTE mess was when Jose de Venecia III – son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr – testified before the Senate that he was told by the First Gentleman to "back off" from the national broadband project. De Venecia III is president of Amsterdam Holdings Inc., an interested party in the broadband project. Government critics from used Lozada’s revelations in renewing calls for the resignation of President Arroyo. - GMANews.TV