OUTGOING Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday denied a report that excessive alcohol intake caused his kidney infection that doctors found in a recent checkup abroad.
The congressman-elect, who arrived the other day from his twice-annual checkup in the United States, said the report (not in Sun.Star Cebu) is “a complete fabrication.”
The report said doctors at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas diagnosed the mayor with a kidney infection caused by “too much liquor in the body.”
“That’s a barefaced lie. My doctor never said that, that’s a complete fabrication. I did not tell anyone that it’s because I’m drinking,” Osmeña said.
He explained the bacteria possibly went to one of his kidneys following surgery last year to remove his urinary bladder, because of cancer.
“It’s just an infection, I just have to take antibiotics. They only prescribed antibiotics that are available here,” said the mayor, whose first term as congressman of Cebu City’s south district begins on June 30.
The mayor disclosed, though, that he underwent a biopsy, a procedure in which a tissue sample is taken for further examination.
“They had to do a biopsy to see if it’s cancer or not because the CT scan indicated what looked like an infection,” Osmeña said.
Regular checks
The outgoing mayor said he has zero cancer and is ready to begin working in his first legislative position.
However, he still has to undergo regular checkups at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is scheduled to fly back to Houston in December.
The mayor’s health was one of the recurring issues of this year’s election campaign, with his rival and critics asking whether he is healthy enough for the demands of congressional work.
Osmeña said he celebrated Father’s Day yesterday with his family and took note of the fact that it is his last such celebration as “father” of the city.
Apart from the checkup, their son’s graduation last June 12 was also one of the reasons the mayor and his wife, councilor-elect Margot Osmeña, travelled to the US.
He thanked Cebuanos for their support in his five terms as city mayor. He pointed out that his father, Sergio “Serging” Osmeña Jr., also served five terms as mayor.
“My father was able to prove that in Cebu City, you can’t buy votes, and I was able to prove it also. That’s one legacy I’m very, very proud of,” Osmeña said.
The mayor is on medical leave up to June 23 but intends to serve the remaining days of his term at City Hall, until June 30.
Mayor-elect Michael Rama earlier disclosed they will take their oath of office on June 30 in front of the Cebu City Legislative Building and not at the South Road Properties.