A wife should prioritize her family before anything else.

This was the statement issued by Liberal Party senatorial bet Sonia Roco as she made an unsolicited advice to President Arroyo, asking her to temporarily pass the reins of government to Vice President Manuel “Noli” De Castro so she can focus on taking care of her sick husband First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Roco said that a wife should prioritize her family just like what she has done with her late husband Senator Raul Roco who was confined for a long time and died due to prostate cancer.

“(President Arroyo) should, for the time being, entrust the government to Vice President De Castro so she can take care of her husband. Because, let’s face it, she has a troubled state of mind at this point in time,” Roco said in a statement.

The First Gentleman was admitted to St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City in Taguig City last March 25 after complaining of lower back pains. He was transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular room five days later after showing “marked clinical progress.”

This was the third time that Mr. Arroyo was rushed to the hospital after undergoing a 10-hour open heart surgery on April 9, 2007 following a diagnosis of aortic aneurysm by his physicians.

“I understand what the President is going through because I had been there when my own husband was battling cancer,” Roco pointed out.