GMA to run anew despite frail health

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is likely to seek reelection despite her frail health, her key ally at the House of Representatives said yesterday.

House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez issued the statement five days before aspirants for senatorial and local posts are expected to file their respective certificates of candidacy for the May 2013 elections.

“She’s going to run in 2013. If she was healthy, I think she could better serve her constituents. The last time I saw her (Friday), she was just around 88 pounds,” Suarez told reporters.

“The health of the President – I don’t want to be accused again of being Dr. Suarez – is in limbo, because she wants to have, like everybody is saying, a final opinion from a specialist who knows her problem, which is not available in our country,” he said.

“If ever there is one (specialist), then you must open her up. And if you have three failed operations already, I think no doctor here would want to open her up again the fourth time,” he added.

The 65-year-old Arroyo underwent three surgeries on her neck last year where doctors implanted several titanium screws to relieve pressure on nerves in her cervical spine.

The implants, however, were dislodged and are progressively blocking her food and air passage ways, prompting her doctors to declare that she is at risk of sudden death.

Earlier this week, the lawmaker tweeted that she had difficulty swallowing and had pain in her legs.

Suarez said it was possible that Arroyo’s daughter, Evangeline “Luli” Arroyo-Bernas, would take the place of her mother in the event that her health condition prevents her from seeking another term in Congress.

In her Twitter account, Arroyo said she was looking forward to her regular physical therapy at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to help ease symptoms of the ailment in her cervical spine.

“Swallowing difficulty and shooting pain in the shin again. Looking forward to today’s physical therapy,” the lawmaker tweeted.

The former leader was rushed to the VMMC last August after she choked on a piece of melon and strained her fragile neck.

Her doctors have recommended that she undergo surgery abroad but she is prohibited from leaving the country by the Sandiganbayan and the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, where she is facing separate charges for graft and electoral sabotage.

Arroyo earlier said she now has to undergo more intensive physical therapy at the VMMC as the muscles holding her cervical spine have atrophied and the pain in her neck has worsened.

Meanwhile, former National Economic and Development Authority director general Romulo Neri refused to testify against Arroyo and invoked his right to remain silent since he is also facing graft charges in the national broadband network (NBN) anomaly in 2007.

In a motion filed through his lawyer Paul Lentejas, Neri asked the Sandiganbayan 4th Division to quash the subpoena issued on Aug. 24, 2012 for him to attend the hearing as a prosecution witness.

Though being tried separately, both Neri and Arroyo are facing graft charges for their alleged involvement in the canceled $329-million NBN contract forged by the government and Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp.

Lentejas told the Sandiganbayan that his client cannot be compelled to testify against Arroyo since the allegations being hurled against the two accused are similar or connected to the same case. With Michael Punongbayan