MANILA -- First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is now out of danger but is still in confinement and being monitored by his attending physicians at St. Luke's Hospital after suffering from diarrhea.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's husband returned to Manila on Saturday, a day after he fell ill on board her plane with severe abdominal pain, forcing an emergency landing in Japan, his doctors said.

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The President was flying to Peru on Friday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit when doctors traveling with her recommended that the plane be diverted to Japan because of concerns that her husband's illness might be related to previous heart problems, Dr. Juliet Cervantes said.

The President's plane landed at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan, where her husband was rushed to a hospital and examined by Japanese doctors.

There was no significant finding linking the abdominal pain to his heart condition, leading doctors to conclude that he was probably suffering from acute infectious diarrhea from food he ate prior to the flight, Cervantes said.

She said she and two other doctors who treated Arroyo for heart problems last year flew to Japan early Saturday to help assess his condition.

Cervantes in a medical bulletin clarified that the First Gentleman suffered from diarrhea but he is now in a stable condition and might be released from the hospital anytime Sunday.

She said no more tests will be conducted on Mr. Arroyo as his condition was stable when he arrived in the country Saturday afternoon.

"I am happy to announce to everybody that the heart and vascular system of the first gentleman are in good condition," heart surgeon Dr. Rommel Carino said. "There was no heart attack."

They later decided to bring him back to Manila on a private plane and took him to the hospital where he underwent triple bypass surgery and another operation to repair his damaged aorta in April last year.

Cervantes said he will remain in the hospital for one or two days to rest.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo pushed through with her commitment after ensuring that the condition of the First Gentleman is stable.

The half-day delay caused by an emergency stopover in Japan will not affect her attendance at the Apec leaders' meeting in Peru.

It will however affect Mrs. Arroyo's activities for a planned stopover in the US.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he expects the Presidential Management Staff to make the necessary adjustments to Arroyo's schedule.

"The emergency stopover caused a half-day delay in the flight to Peru. The President will not be late for Peru but the delay has affected her stopover in the US. Perhaps they can make certain adjustments," he said in an interview over dzBB radio Saturday.

A separate report said President Arroyo may miss some "pre-Apec events" and that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo will represent her in those events.

She will reportedly make it in time for the dialog of Apec leaders scheduled at 3:30 p.m. (Lima, Peru time). (JMR/AP/Sunnex)

(November 23, 2008 issue)
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