British Embassy apologizes for false alarm on Cory

The British Embassy in Manila apologized for a statement Friday expressing condolences to the Aquino family for the “death" of former President Corazon Aquino. The embassy had sent reporters a statement from Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch Brown extending his condolences to the family of the Philippines’ democracy icon. “Our deepest apologies, it appears the information we received was premature," the embassy's statement of apology read. "Thank you very much for your understanding." A senior official from the Department of Foreign Affairs, who asked not to be named, told GMANews.TV that "we never gave out that information," referring to the ailing leader's condition. Only the DFA is mandated to give an official statement on Aquino’s health to all foreign embassies in the Philippines, the official added. A staff of Aquino’s son, Sen Benigno Simeon Aquino III, told GMANews.TV on Friday morning that there are “no significant news updates at the moment." Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who got to visit Mrs. Aquino earlier in the day for the first time, assured that the former president is "okay." "She's sleeping soundly," he said, adding that instead of spreading wrong information, people should just pray because "malaki ang utang na loob natin sa kanya (we owe her a lot)." "Whatever freedom we are enjoying right now we owe it to her," Lim said. Text messages falsely saying Mrs. Aquino has passed away made the rounds earlier during the day. Former Supreme Court associate justice Adolf Azcuna announced news of Mrs. Aquino's "death" during a healing Mass for Mrs. Aquino at the Manila City Hall, causing Church-goers to weep for the former president. It even prompted the priest to offer prayer for Mrs. Aquino. Later on, however, Mrs. Aquino's trusted aide Marge Juico arrived and corrected the wrong information. Azcuna said the hoax did not come from him, as he was only asked to make the announcement. "What I said a while ago, we received news that Tita Cory passed away. You can ask Mrs. Sarino (wife of former Interior secretary Cesar Sarino during Aquino time) because she let me read the text message about Tita Cory and asked me to announce it because the family is not here, Mayor Lim is not here," Azcuna said. The former Philippine president has been battling stage-4 colon cancer at the Makati Medical Center, where she has been confined for over a month. Aquino earlier received prayers for her recovery from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pope Benedict XVI. US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said she delivered Clinton's personal letter to Mrs. Aquino's family Thursday, and later attended a healing Mass for the 76-year-old democracy icon. In Vatican City, the Pope expressed his "spiritual closeness" to Mrs. Aquino after learning of her condition from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, according to an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Web site. Healing Masses led by Mrs. Aquino's friends, colleagues, and supporters have since been held in various locations. - Jam Sisante, Amita Legaspi, Joseph Holandes, Aie B. See, GMANews.TV