The health of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appears to have worsened since she was discharged from Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in July after an eight-month hospital arrest.
\nThe Pampanga representative, who still goes to VMMC three times a week for regular checkups, is badly dehydrated and weak.
\n\u201cI think her health is worse now,\u201d said Dr. Nona Legaspi, the VMMC director.
\nThe former President has lost weight since leaving VMMC on July 25 after being allowed to post bail for the electoral sabotage case for which she was detained.
\nHouse Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Arroyo should remain confined in a hospital despite a new arrest order against her.
\n\u201cI think that\u2019s exactly where she should be kept because she has really become quite frail, according to the reports,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI myself would not want her anywhere else except in the Veterans (Memorial Medical Center) where medical assistance is readily available,\u201d added Belmonte, a former political ally of Arroyo.
\nBelmonte said he \u201csympathized\u201d with Arroyo. \u201cI sympathize with her but I also believe that the processes of justice and the courts should go on,\u201d he said.
\nBelmonte commended the way the warrant was served on Arroyo.
\n\u201cThere is no intention to make a spectacle out of it or to embarrass her in any way,\u201d he said.
\nLegaspi theorized that Arroyo may have developed a phobia against eating because of the choking episodes she has experienced due to her lingering cervical spine problem.
\nThough Arroyo is on a solid diet \u201cas tolerated,\u201d she seemed to be eating less, the doctor said.
\n\u201cI think she is also afraid of drinking water for fear of choking,\u201d Legaspi said. Doctors have constantly advised Arroyo to keep herself well hydrated.
\nAccording to Legaspi, Arroyo had another choking incident last Wednesday. She was admitted to VMMC the next day. She was at the hospital when police came to arrest her on orders of the Sandiganbayan where she is facing plunder charges for the alleged misuse of P325 million in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds.
\nIn a medical bulletin issued Friday, VMMC said the patient initially complained of \u201cgeneralized body weakness, persistent pain over the nuchal and left shoulder with numbness of both hands and frequent episodes of choking.\u201d
\nAccording to the doctors who examined Arroyo, the former President was suffering from \u201cdehydration due to poor oral intake.\u201d
\nThis was outside of her medical condition of cervical spondylosis, Legaspi said.
\n\u201cShe is being managed medically with intravenous hydration and pain reliever with continuation of physical therapy as tolerated,\u201d the medical bulletin read.
\nAsked how long Arroyo would be confined at VMMC, Legaspi said the evaluation of the patient was on a day-to-day basis.
\nShe said the former President was \u201cnot yet medically dischargeable.\u201d
\n\u201cWe cannot predict when she will be discharged,\u201d Legaspi said.
\nArroyo has an IV drip attached to her, \u201cshe cannot go around with that,\u201d she said.
\nThe doctor described Arroyo\u2019s medical condition as \u201cnothing acute that will warrant an emergency procedure.\u201d
\nHer complaints may be addressed through therapy and will be observed for the next 24 to 36 hours, she said.
\nArroyo still uses a neck brace when walking around but can take it off inside the hospital\u2019s presidential suite as \u201cher mobility is limited there,\u201d Legaspi said.
\nDr. Martha Nocum, the admitting physician, said Arroyo has undergone an X-ray of the neck. She is also set to undergo blood extraction and an electromyelogram to determine the cause of the numbing of her hands, among other tests.
\nAsked if Arroyo, who has filed the necessary papers for her reelection bid in Pampanga\u2019s second district, could withstand the rigors of a campaign with her present state of health, Nocum said: \u201cShe will need the help of people to campaign for her. Right now, she can\u2019t.\u201d
\nArroyo is suffering from cervical spondylosis, a degenerative disease of the bones and cartilage of the neck. She had three surgeries performed by Filipino surgeons at St. Luke\u2019s Medical Center in 2011.
\nFollowing a recent hospitalization after Arroyo choked on a piece of melon, Arroyo\u2019s cardiologist said that the titanium brace that had been implanted in Arroyo\u2019s neck had shifted, blocking her air and food pathways, a condition that he said was life-threatening.
\nThe cardiologist said Arroyo\u2019s condition necessitated a fourth operation that could be handled by a team of experts not available in the Philippines.
\nLegaspi said the hospital has not received any order from the Sandiganbayan.
\n\u201cWe did receive a verbal communication from the police that she (Arroyo) will be staying here for a while,\u201d she said, adding that the hospital\u2019s presidential suite is always kept clean and well-maintained.
\nThe police will be observing the same security arrangements for the hospital arrest of Arroyo, according to Chief Supt. Mario de la Vega, director of the Quezon City police district.
\nHe said a contingent composed of members of the QCPD, the Police Security Protection Group, the Regional Public Safety Battalion of the National Capital Region Police Office and the Special Action Force will be securing the sprawling VMMC compound.
\n\u201cIt will be the same procedure, the same arrangement as before,\u201d De la Vega said yesterday, referring to Arroyo\u2019s eight-month hospital arrest for the electoral sabotage charges.
\nThis arrangement includes \u201cappropriate close-in security\u201d for the former President, he said.
\nForty policemen from the QCPD were tasked to guard the VMMC perimeter, while 30 policemen from the RPSB of NCRPO were there on Thursday as backup.
\nWhat is new in the security arrangements was the SAF contingent of 30 policemen backing up the QCPD, De la Vega said.
\n\u201cThey are positioned there in case there is a threat or if anyone causes trouble,\u201d he said. With a report from Christian Esguerra <\/p>\n