FG in stable condition; Arroyo proceeds to Peru

First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is in stable condition and flew back to Manila yesterday after he fell ill during a flight with President Arroyo to Peru via Los Angeles to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President proceeded to the APEC Summit in Peru after doctors assured her that her husband merely suffered a mild case of diarrhea.

Mrs. Arroyo was on her way from Manila to attend the 21-nation APEC Summit in Lima, Peru when her husband, who was part of the delegation, suddenly complained of stomach pains during the flight.

The plane was forced to land at the Kansai International Airport in western Japan, an airport police official there confirmed late Friday.

Arroyo was then rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment on fears that he might have been suffering a heart attack. He is undergoing rehabilitation after a major heart surgery last year.

Ermita said he received information that Arroyo was in good condition after being examined by two Filipino doctors flown to Japan before dawn yesterday.

He said the President would still be on time for the start of the APEC Summit.

Arroyo, on the other hand, flew home from Osaka yesterday and proceeded to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where his personal physician, Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, examined him.

Television footage showed Arroyo on a stretcher being lowered from the plane from Osaka. He was conscious and did not appear to be in severe pain.

“There was no heart attack; it was just a plain case of diarrhea,” Cervantes later told reporters during a press briefing at the lobby of the hospital.

Cervantes said Arroyo suffered diarrhea that was probably triggered by indigestion before boarding the plane to Peru.

She said Arroyo would be confined for two to three days on a soft diet.

Cervantes said Arroyo has undergone the required blood tests and there were no significant findings that could indicate complications arising from his open-heart surgery.

In April last year, doctors performed a triple bypass on Arroyo to prevent his main heart artery from rupturing and clogging.

Cervantes clarified that Arroyo did not suffer a heart attack even as he complained of excruciating abdominal pain during the flight to Los Angeles, something that happened last year when he suffered a serious heart ailment.

Cervantes explained the medical history of Arroyo, particularly the open-heart surgery he underwent last year to address his dissecting aortic aneurysm, necessitated the conduct of examinations by physicians when he complained of abdominal pain.

Dr. Rommel Cariño, the cardiovascular surgeon who performed the surgery on the First Gentleman last year, said the remaining aorta of Arroyo was already damaged so any pain in his chest or abdomen could be related to the heart operation.

He said the heart and vascular system of the First Gentleman are in good or stable condition.

“There was no heart attack,” Cervantes declared, adding that Arroyo was able to walk on his own from the lobby of St. Luke’s to his room, an indication that he was feeling well.

Cervantes said she was told by Arroyo that he had a steak before the flight, which, she said, could have caused the diarrhea.

She said Arroyo should be out of the hospital either tomorrow or Tuesday and that apart from a stricter diet, there should be no change in his routine.

Arroyo’s lawyer and spokesman Jesus Santos said he was with him last Friday having lunch at the LTA building in Makati City and saw that “he was okay.”

Santos said he could not recall Arroyo complaining of any pain before joining the trip to Peru.

Initial reports quoted Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno as saying that Arroyo might have suffered a heart attack during the flight to Peru.

Puno later said Arroyo was in stable condition but needed to remain in the hospital in Osaka for further medical examination.

Ermita added that even before the Filipino doctors arrived in Osaka, they already learned from Consul General Melody Lopez that Arroyo is already out of danger and did not have a heart attack.

Several lawmakers are accompanying the President on the APEC Summit.

For their part, some wished Arroyo full and speedy recovery.

“We wish him well and rest assured that we will continue to pray for his full recovery and safety in returning home,” Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said. – With Perseus Echeminada, Pia Lee-Brago, Delon Porcalla, Rudy Santos, AP