BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday made her fourth
trip for the year to the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon
City.
The visit had nothing to do with her personal
health as the President merely accompanied First Gentleman Jose
Miguel Arroyo who has yet to complete his executive checkup,
according to Malacañang officials.
"The President is just accompanying the First
Gentleman who is undergoing routine procedures as a follow up to
his own checkup last week. PGMA’s presence before the
Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce tonight (Friday night)
should dispel any speculations about her health," said Gabriel
Claudio, presidential adviser on political affairs.
The President left St. Luke’s at 6:40 p.m.
Presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo said his
father was "okay" but it was better to wait for doctors’
announcements.
He also said he did not know if his mother
would return to the hospital after her "speaking engagement."
Rep. Arroyo left about five minutes after the
President, and presidential daughter Luli around five minutes
after Rep. Arroyo. Their other sibling, Diosdado, was staying
overnight at the hospital.
Mr. Arroyo underwent an executive checkup
last Saturday and additional tests were conducted Sunday and
Monday after physicians found something wrong in the results,
which they wished to double check.
Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, attending
physician of the First Couple, said after the first checkup that
Mr. Arroyo’s condition was not serious. She said physicians
extended Mr. Arroyo’s stay in the hospital while waiting for the
results of his tests. He was supposed to be released Sunday
along with the President but they were discharged Monday
instead.
Juris Soliman, Mr. Arroyo’s chief of staff,
said talks about the presidential spouse having a heart
condition were malicious and baseless.
Soliman said the First Gentleman was at the
hospital for a routine checkup.
Reports said Mr. Arroyo is to undergo surgery
tomorrow.
Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said last
night Mr. Arroyo was undergoing a medical procedure but said he
did not know if it was surgery or an additional test.
He said it was better to wait for the
doctors’ announcement.
Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor
said if surgery was really scheduled, the hospital would have
announced it.
Rep. Ronaldo Zamora was also at the hospital
but said he was there to visit his daughter.
He said he did not know Mr. Arroyo was there
but wished the First Couple good health.
He said the First Family should be
transparent when it comes to health issues.
He also said he and Mr. Arroyo "are alike."
"We’re in that age where we have to be
careful about our health," he said.
The President was first confined at St.
Luke’s in June for what her physicians said was "acute
infectious diarrhea." She was brought to the same hospital in
July for flu.
The President went to St. Luke’s after
presiding over meetings of the National Disaster Coordinating
Council to assess the damage brought about by typhoon "Reming"
and of the Defense Department Transition Team, both held in Camp
Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Arroyo assumed the defense portfolio on a
concurrent position, vice Avelino Cruz whose irrevocable
resignation took effect Thursday.
She set up a transition team composed of the
six remaining top DND officials led by Undersecretaries Ernesto
Carolina and Antonio Santos Jr. to ensure smooth turnover at the
department.
She issued guidelines related to systems and
administrative procedures that would ensure full transparency,
particularly in aligning the DND procurement system to a
civilian procurement system under the procurement law and budget
department’s guidelines, and shorten procurement time without
sacrificing transparency.
She also issued a memorandum on programs and priorities to be
undertaken by the department during her 60-day tenure as acting
secretary.
