DOH chief: ex-Pres. Arroyo 'recuperating well'

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is “recuperating well" from the surgeries she went through during the past months, Health Sec. Enrique Ona said Friday. Ona told GMA News reporter Sandra Aguinaldo that the former president seems to be in good condition, but “had lost a considerable [amount of] weight." “I noticed na nakakalakad na siya very comfortably," Ona said, adding that it was Mrs. Arroyo who met him at the door when he visited her last Oct. 28.
Ona checked on Mrs. Arroyo last week after Department of Justice (DOJ) Sec. Leila de Lima said she would ask for his opinion first before deciding on the former president’s request to seek medical treatment abroad. The Health secretary noted that the former president “looks somewhat older than her age." Mrs. Arroyo is wearing a brace “at the back of her neck down to her upper chest," said Ona, who visited Mrs. Arroyo along with his predecessor Francisco Duque III. ‘Not an expert’ Ona is facing criticisms from the Arroyo camp after De Lima said she sees no “immediate necessity" for the former president to leave the country for treatment. Atty. Raul Lambino, Mrs. Arroyo’s legal spokesperson, said Ona is not an expert on the former president’s case and his observation “is in line with what the Palace would want to happen." The camp of the Pampanga representative has asked the DOJ to allow her to leave the country to seek treatment for bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism, a condition which causes calcium and phosphorus levels in her blood to decrease. But the Health secretary pointed out that what he reported to De Lima only came from the information he got from Mrs. Arroyo and her two doctors, who also came to visit their patient while he was there. He also countered the Arroyo camp’s earlier claim that bone biopsy has not been done in the country, saying the procedure is conducted here “almost everyday." The Health secretary clarified that some of the procedures are not conducted in the Philippines only because conditions that require them, like that of Mrs. Arroyo's, "are very rare." Support, opposition Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said he supports the stance of De Lima, who is expected to release the final decision on Tuesday next week. He also questioned Mrs. Arroyo’s request, which stated that she would travel to different countries for treatment. According to De Lima, Mrs. Arroyo originally asked the DOJ in a letter to allow her to travel to Singapore, Germany and Austria for treatment. The former president’s counsel, however, changed Austria to Spain during a consultation with them last week. “Mainam din na magpaliwanag ang dating pangulo kung bakit apat na bansa ang bibisitahin niya gayung sinasabi nilang malubha ang kaniyang karamdaman," Pangilinan said in a statement. — RAJMD/ELR, GMA News