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House leaders have rejected Senate President Manny
Villar’s advice for President Arroyo to go on leave to attend to
her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, who is recovering from
heart surgery, saying Mrs. Arroyo was “responsible and
competent” enough to attend to her personal concerns and the
nation’s affairs at the same time.
House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao
Gerry Salapuddin and Bulacan Rep. Lorna Silverio, chairman of the
House Committee on Interparliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, said
a leave of absence for the President was unnecessary since the
country’s affairs remain unaffected by the President’s focus on
Mike Arroyo’s condition.
The two lawmakers, in a joint
statement, said the President has time and again shown her strength
and competency in the midst of problems facing her family and the
nation.
“The President is still able to
lead her Cabinet and monitor the day-to-day operations of the
government. She’s very professional and hardworking,” Salapuddin
said.
Silverio had a similar view,
noting that Mrs. Arroyo need not to go on leave because she knows
how to handle the temporary difficulty facing the First Family.
“We are really glad that [Mr.
Arroyo] is definitely out of danger with a 95-percent chance of full
recovery according to his doctors at St. Luke’s Medical Center,”
she said.
Salapuddin said the President’s
ability to divide her time between taking care of Mike Arroyo and
attending to her commitments as chief executive was commendable.
“She knows how to manage things
well. It also shows her strength amid the crisis facing her family.
She deserves our admiration and support,” he said.
As far as Silverio is concerned,
such a positive development makes it more improbable for the
President to consider Villar’s idea.
“This is not the time to give
her additional trouble, so let’s all work together in helping the
President fulfill her duties and in attending to the needs of the
First Gentleman,” he said.
This developed as Team Unity
senatorial candidates said President Arroyo should let the doctors
and experts at the St. Luke’s attend to his husband while she is
performing his official duty at the same time.
Former senator Vicente Sotto 3rd,
Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson and Sen. Ralph Recto agreed that the
President should not take a leave of absence.
“Villar’s call for the
President’s leave of absence indeed has no basis... We feel the
President could still performs her functions well, attend to her
commitments while nursing his husband,” Sotto said.
Singson believes that all that is
needed is “more prayers” for the immediate recovery of Mr.
Arroyo.
Recto said President Arroyo has
the help of competent professionals, doctors who are best in their
field, and a Cabinet, led by her vice president of dedicated public
servants.
“In these men, the health of
her husband and the ship of state are in safe hands. The President
can multitask,” Recto said.
 --Maricel
V. Cruz
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