Mike on GMA: I only have roses to give her

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, will enjoy some private time in her room at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on Valentine’s Day.

Though she is under hospital arrest while being tried for plunder, Mr. Arroyo said he plans to make Valentine’s Day this year more memorable by giving his wife 11 red roses and a white rose.

“Eleven red, representing our love, and one white, representing her purity,” he explained when asked what the red and white roses mean. “Everybody knows I love her very much.”

Mr. Arroyo said he and the Pampanga congresswoman have been married for 45 years and they still celebrate Valentine’s Day in one way or another.

“It will be a private dinner but I only have roses to give her,” he said.

The former first gentleman said he hopes the problems they are facing – he himself faces two graft cases for his alleged involvement in the national broadband network deal anomaly and the purchase of overpriced second-hand helicopters by the Philippine National Police – will soon pass.