PHILIPPINES NEWS SERVICE — IN a bid to end speculations about her health, President Macapagal-Arroyo will go island hopping this coming week after curtailing her self-quarantine at the Asian hospital in Muntinlupa City.
Her brief stay in the hospital fueled reports of her undergoing corrective treatment for leaking breast implants which Malacanang vehemently denied. She had actually had lumps biopsied and they were found benign. Doctors gave Mrs. Arroyo a clean bill of health, the Palace stressed.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the President is just finalizing her itinerary this coming week following her 13 day trip to Japan, Brazil,Columbia and Hongkong.
Fajardo said Mrs. Arroyo will definitely resume her provincial sorties to pursue her State of the Nation promises mostly concerning infrastructure projects and to look into the pressing concerns of local folks in remote areas in the country.
Earlier, the President suspended her provincial visits until July 5 including her weekly Cabinet meeting to give way for her self quarantine.
Fajardo assured the public that the President would take into serious consideration the advisement of officials of the Department of Health especially in the wake of the threat of the influenza A (HINI) virus.
Also yesterday, Fajardo said the Palace is not too keen on censuring the Asian Hospital over the leaking of the outcome of her medical check up reportedly involving the repair of a breast implant done in the 1980s.
Short of blaming the Asian hospital management, Fajardo said that the incident should serve as a lesson to other medical institutions, pointing out they should always respect the confidentiality of medical records as well as the patient-doctor relationship, especially given the fact that the President is a woman.
She said that the Palace has been “transparent” with the real medical condition of the President, pointing out that the biopsy done on her should not be blown out of proportions.
“Di dapat na itong palakihin pa,” Fajardo said, stressing that the important thing is that the President is in the pink of health.
Fajardo said all the talk about the President’s purported gynecological medical procedures is “disrespectful, not only of the President, but of women’s health issues. As head of state, the President is fully aware that she must be transparent about her health and she is.”
The Palace official was reacting to Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay’s statement that the President should come clean about the state of her health.
“My concern is whether her medical condition is affecting her judgment and fitness to govern,” Binay said.
“As we enter the crucial months leading to the elections, and with all the talk of destabilization and no election, we cannot leave the big decisions to someone who may not be physically well,” the opposition leader added even as he indicated that the Palace could be lying to the people about Mrs. Arroyo’s health. He also pointed out that it is the taxpayers who paid for Mrs. Arroyo’s hospital stay.
“Then again, there is the issue of cost to the taxpayer. The taxpayers should be told that they paid for medical procedures and not a self-quarantine as claimed by Malacanang,” Binay said.
Earlier, Press Pecretary Cerge Remonde would not categorically deny that Mrs. Arroyo had gone to the hospital due to a leaking breast implant.
“Kayong mga lalake, alam niyo naman tingnan kung ang babae nagpa-retoke. Res ipsa loquitur,” Remonde told male reporters, using a legal term that means “the thing speaks for itself.”