Danding Cojuangco ‘ok, not seriously ill’—son

Business tycoon Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. is not gravely ill, his son said Thursday, amid renewed rumors that the San Miguel Corp. chair is fighting for his life. "My dad is fine," his eldest son Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco said in a text message. "If there is something wrong then I should be the one worried. I am not." The lawmaker said Danding had a medical check-up at St. Luke's hospital three days ago after suffering discomfort due to one of the medicines prescribed to him that "does not agree" with his stomach. Danding went home the next day, his son said. The business tycoon underwent cardiac ablation, a procedure done to correct abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia, in the United States last November. The elder Cojuangco recovered after his attending physician, Dr. Nick Cruz, prescribed a different medicine, Mark said. He added that the findings on his father's stomach were "completely normal." The 74-year old Cojuangco is one of the most influential kingmakers and business tycoons in the country. He is the current chair of San Miguel Corporation, the Philippines' largest food and beverage conglomerate. In its 2009 listing, the influential business magazine Forbes ranked Cojuangco as the seventh richest person in the Philippines, with a net worth of $660 million. He is married to Gretchen Oppen Cojuangco and has four children. A known crony of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, Danding was part of the infamous Rolex 12, a group of men who were the closest and most powerful advisers of the dictator. His ties with Marcos estranged him from his cousin, the late former president Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, who succeeded Marcos as president in 1986. In 1992, Danding set up the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) and ran as its standard bearer. He lost to Fidel V. Ramos but remains the NPC's chairman emeritus. Two of his nephews--Senator Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III of the Liberal Party and former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of Lakas-Kampi-CMD--are seeking the presidency in the May elections. Danding has not publicly expressed support for any of the two candidates. - Johanna Camille Sisante and Aie Balagtas See/YA, GMANews.TV