Tommy Osmeña back in the hospital

CEBU CITY — Mayor Tomas Osmeña is back in the hospital, fueling speculations that he is not as well as his physician and family are willing to publicly admit.

His doctor, Manuel Lim, said Osmeña, 53, is doing fine but that he had to persuade him to go back to the Chong Hua Hospital so it would be easier to monitor his health.

Osmeña was rushed to the hospital unconscious on March 9 after collapsing at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral where he stood as sponsor at a wedding.

Osmeña, complaining of boredom, insisted on leaving the hospital last March 17 after spending nine days there.

He spent six days of his confinement at the intensive care unit, and the rest at a private suite.

Advised to take a complete bed rest at home, Osmeña filed a one-week leave of absence but extended it to March 30.

The other day, he, however, was readmitted to the hospital on Lim’s advice.

But all Lim would say was that it was much easier to monitor Osmeña in the hospital than at home. "He is capable," he said.

The mayor’s brother, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, and sister Maria Victoria "Minnie" Osmeña, joined Lim in persuading him to go back to the hospital.

Margot, the mayor’s wife, agreed that it had been very inconvenient for the family and the doctors to keep on monitoring Osmeña at home.

The official cause of Osmeña’s condition, according to Lim, is "hypertension crisis," or a sudden rise in blood pressure due to fatigue and pressure from work.

Almost immediately after Osmeña was back in the hospital at about 9 a.m. the other day, City Hall was rife with rumors that the mayor was not as stable as those around him were willing to admit.

Still, Lim insisted that Osmeña was stable and doing fine and was even allowed to use his cellular phone again.

At the time Osmeña collapsed at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, his blood pressure had shot to 240 over 120. But Lim said his blood pressure now hovers between 120 to 140 over 90.

Margot also insisted that her husband was fine. "If it is anything serious, he would have been in the ICU. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I know that I’m not here to satisfy those people. I am here to take care of him," she said.

City information officer Nagiel Banacia confirmed that Osmeña extended his leave until the end of the month and that he could be reporting back after that. But he added that would all depend on his doctor’s advice.

City administrator Nigel Paul Villarete assured the public that services will not be affected by the mayor’s absence since his functions and responsibilities have been delegated to other city officials. — Freeman News Service