Ally: Gloria Arroyo likely to stay at QC home from hospital

For “practical" reasons, former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo is likely to stay at her Quezon City residence after her discharge from the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City, where she underwent a spine operation last week. Candaba (Pampanga) Mayor Jerry Pelayo, a close ally and friend, on Friday said “Tutuloy siya sa bahay sa Quezon City sapagkat malapit ito sa St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC). Kung may emergency malapit lang... practical," Pelayo said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He added Arroyo will need “three weeks or one month" to recover from her surgery to correct a condition caused by a pinched nerve in her spine. Pelayo said Arroyo’s children will likely take care of her. But he also said Arroyo will have to be screened while “resting" at home, after he noted she repeatedly violated doctors’ orders to rest. “Her activities should be screened even while she is at home," he said, adding Mrs. Arroyo has not gotten much rest after her spine operation as she continues to check if her constituents in Pampanga were affected by recent cyclones. “Talagang ang bilin ng duktor is full rest, isang buwan. Peor ang nangyari, tila ayaw niyang bitawan ang telepono, pinagbabawal ng duktor ang pakikipag-usap. Dahil sa mga pag-ulan, dala ng bagyong Kabayan at Lando, tumatawag pala siya sa kanyang distrito at tinatanong kung lubog, bumabaha, anong kondisyon," he said. He said Arroyo had no TV or radio inside her hospital room to make sure she can take needed rest. Arroyo presently represents the second legislative of Pampanga in the House of Representatives. Pelayo admitted Arroyo’s “hands-on" and “workaholic" attitude had caused some friction between him and her in the past. “Talagang ako sabihin ko sa iyo ang totoo minsan nagtatampuhan kaming dalawa," he said. “The operation was successful but she has to follow doctors’ post-operation orders not to talk, and to eat and relax," he added. Pelayo declined to comment if the former president and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo are communicating while the former First Gentleman is in Hong Kong. The former First Gentleman has been invited to testify at a Senate hearing on Aug. 11 over the alleged forced sale of used helicopters to the Philippine National Police in 2009. — LBG, GMA News