TOKYO -- First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is now in stable condition after suffering a heart attack while en route to Lima, Peru with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

They made an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan the previous day after the First Gentleman fell ill on board.

Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment for an illness related to a chronic health problem.

Jose Morales, a spokesman at the Philippine Consulate General's office in Osaka, said Saturday he could not comment on the president's whereabouts or her husband's condition.

In Manila, ABS-CBN television quoted Philippine Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno as saying that the president's husband suffered stomach cramps and back pains, denying media speculation that he had suffered a heart attack.

Television footage showed Arroyo's husband - conscious and not appearing to be in severe pain - on a stretcher being lowered from the plane.

Puno said he was in stable condition but needed to remain in the hospital for further medical attention. He will be flown back to Manila as soon as his doctors allow him to travel.

Japan's Foreign Ministry and the hospital refused to comment on his condition.

Kyodo News agency reported that Arroyo had accompanied her husband to the hospital and spent the night there.

Arroyo's husband underwent heart surgery in 2007. In April last year, doctors performed a triple bypass on him to prevent his main heart artery from rupturing and clogging.

The President and her husband were on their way to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (Apec).

Puno said Arroyo was to continue on to Peru, but did not say when she will leave Japan. Japanese police said there was no sign of her plane departing several hours after landing.

Arroyo's husband, an attorney from a prominent family, has no official powers but is regarded as an influential back-room operator and is a vocal backer of his wife against political rivals. (AP/Sunnex)