Arroyo undergoes 3rd surgery for pinched nerve

Former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo underwent a third surgery on Wednesday to correct a pinched nerve on her spine, the spokesperson of the hospital where the lawmaker is confined said. Marilen Lagniton, communications director of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City, announced that Mrs. Arroyo’s surgery pushed through after the former President’s temperature normalized, a report over GMA News TV’s “Balitanghali" said. The operation was postponed last Monday after Mrs. Arroyo developed a fever, which her doctors said may have been caused by infections. A medical bulletin on the results of the operation will be released by Mrs. Arroyo’s physicians on Thursday, the report added. Mrs. Arroyo underwent cervical spine surgery last July 29 at the same hospital where titanium implants and bone substitute were used to rebuild her spine.

The former President had to undergo revision surgery last August 10 after doctors found out that the implants had been dislodged due to her “inherent bone problem." Mrs. Arroyo’s allies at the House of Representatives, meanwhile, called for prayers from all Filipinos for the former President’s immediate recovery. “[We] request all our countrymen of good will—and regardless of their political views—to join us in praying for the success of the third operation on our colleague in the House minority, former President Arroyo," the members of the minority bloc said in a statement on Wednesday. Mrs. Arroyo is currently facing five plunder charges before the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman. She has already been placed on the travel watch list due to these cases. - Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News