Comelec chief Brillantes to undergo more tests

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has been transferred to a different hospital and will be undergoing several more tests to determine the reason why he fainted late Wednesday, a television report said Thursday. In a report aired over GMA News TV's News To Go, reporter Ivan Mayrina said Brillantes was transferred to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday because his personal doctor was there. The Comelec chief was rushed to the Manila Doctors Hospital on Wednesday night after he fainted at the poll body's main office in Intramuros, Manila.
Mayrina reported that the cardiologist who checked Brillantes at the Manila Doctors Hospital said that all his vital signs became stable after he was administered with dextrose. However, Brillantes may still undergo a colonoscopy, an internal examination of the colon (large intestine) and rectum, and a gastroenterology workup, which is a diagnosis of disorders in the digestive system, Mayrina added in his report. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez earlier said the doctor's initial impression was that the cause for the incident was gastrointestinal-related. Brillantes, who served as President Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s legal counsel in the May 10 elections, assumed his post as Comelec chairman last January. He replaced Jose Melo, who was supposed to retire in 2015. Brillantes will serve the unexpired term of Melo. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News