Mr. Arroyo’s chief of staff, Juris Soliman, told reporters that he was able to take solid food after being fed intravenously shortly after his surgery and given soft food in the last few days.
Soliman said Mr. Arroyo was also able to join for the first time his doctors in their daily conference on their patient.
"I’m your miracle," Soliman quoted Mr. Arroyo as telling his doctors during the meeting.
Mr. Arroyo earlier expressed his gratitude to friends and supporters who have prayed and continue to pray for his speedy recovery. He said prayers from friends and supporters "helped save my life."
"I hope to reciprocate your prayers with an intensified effort to help the poor, especially the sick, in my own little way at the soonest possible time," he said in a statement.
Mr. Arroyo said he was overwhelmed by the large number of flowers that he has received in the past 10 days that he has been confined at SLMC.
However, he asked that the money spent for flowers be donated instead to the FG Foundation Fund at the Philippine General Hospital "so that we can serve a greater number of sick indigents." – Paolo Romero