MANILA - A court ordered the husband of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrested Tuesday on charges that he received millions of dollars in bribes, part of a wide-ranging prosecution of alleged corruption during her presidency.
Jose Miguel “Mike’’ Arroyo, who was seen as a back room operator during his wife’s nine years in office, posted bail later Tuesday to avoid detention. He had been indicted on the bribery charges in December.
He is accused of accepting money to push through a $330 million government contract with Chinese telecommunication company ZTE Corp. to set up a nationwide broadband network in 2007. The contract was originally priced at $130 million.
His wife approved the deal but later backtracked under public pressure and a congressional investigation that found the contract vastly overpriced.
Mike Arroyo has denied wrongdoing and says the graft charges are flawed because the former president canceled the deal.
His wife, who left office in 2010, faces the same charges as her husband, and more. She has pleaded not guilty to electoral fraud charges, but is in detention at a military hospital as she awaits trial.