GMA’s health deteriorating — docs

MANILA, Philippines - The health of Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is continuously deteriorating and her prolonged hospital detention is not helping her.

This is according to two medical experts including a spine surgeon of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, where the former president is confined.

The Sandiganbayan has been informed of such medical findings but is yet to rule on Arroyo’s petition for bail filed seven months ago, along with her motion to resolve filed last month.

Antonio Sison of the VMMC Department of Orthopedics said Arroyo, who underwent three major cervical spine operations in October 2011, continues to complain of cervical and lower back pain, which are relieved temporarily by medicine and physiotherapy “but with no actual significant clinical improvement.”

“Also, she has recurrent dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing solid food due to esophageal stenosis, which contributes to her poor appetite and weight loss,” he said in a report on Arroyo’s medical condition dated July 29, 2013.

Sison said it is not healthy to keep a patient in continued confinement at a medical facility for over a year because this may only slow down the healing process and hinder full recovery due to restricted movement and access to related modes of treatment.

The VMMC director, however, denied that the condition of Arroyo is worsening.

“(The former president’s) health is not deteriorating,” said VMMC director Nona Legaspi in a text message to The STAR.

Legaspi was responding to an inquiry about Arroyo’s condition following the submission of medical certificates before the Sandiganbayan, which reportedly claimed that the health of the former president has steadily deteriorated despite medical treatment.

The VMMC chief said they will not issue a medical bulletin on Arroyo’s condition “because she is OK.”

Ernesto Palanca, a clinician for more than 50 years and a former surgery professor of the University of Sto. Tomas, said he also examined Arroyo at the VMMC under the supervision of some of her attending physicians like his former student Martina Nocum late last month.

He told the Sandiganbayan in a medical certification that he too believes that the former president should be temporarily released from detention because “clearly, president Arroyo is a suffering sick lady.”

Though medical help is being provided, Palanca stressed that “she is a person with body and spirit. How can she by her own self increase her antibodies and enhance her own immune system if the authorities continue to detain her as an accused criminal?

“In my opinion, one mode worth trying to reverse the ongoing deterioration of (Arroyo’s) health is to release her from detention even on temporary liberty so that her body can rally the protective forces only her mind can command to combat the negative forces that are making her sicker day by day,” he said.

Arroyo’s lawyers, led by Anacleto Diaz, have been appealing to the Sandiganbayan to grant bail to the former president, citing both legal and humanitarian reasons.

“Moreover, her physical condition in terms of age and health magnify the humanitarian considerations that outweigh bare accusations that she is a ‘flight risk’,” her legal counsels told the anti-graft court, noting that the former president is already 66 years old.

“Further, by actively participating in the instant proceedings, she has more than proven her intent to establish her innocence. All these circumstances, taken together, negate any claim that accused GMA may be a flight risk,” her lawyers added.

Arroyo is facing plunder charges for her alleged involvement in the misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) confidential and intelligence funds during her term.

Three of her co-accused in the case, Sergio Valencia, Manuel  Morato, and Raymundo Roquero, have been granted bail.

Earlier, the camp of the former president submitted opinions of two medical specialists who said that her continued detention might have contributed to her health’s deterioration.

The former president has been under hospital arrest at the VMMC since October 2012.

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) yesterday agreed with the doctors of Arroyo that hospital setting may not be good for her recovery.

“There are cases that hospital environment is not good for a patient but for other people, it may be favorable for them to be in hospital,” said Leo Olarte, PMA president, in reaction to the reported pronouncement of Arroyo’s doctors that her condition was not improving. – With Janvic Mateo, Sheila Crisostomo