MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) Malacañang officials on Friday afternoon dismissed reports that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo underwent breast implant replacement at the Asian Hospital, claiming she was not the type to have one.
?That's absurd,? Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said of the reports, even as he revealed that the reports annoyed the President.
Remonde admitted that Arroyo underwent biopsy at the same hospital after initial tests showed she had a mass in her breast and groin, but the results were negative.
?As I said, res ipsa loquitur. Just look if the President had a breast implant. That's a private matter. It's obvious if women have breast implants. The sexy actresses with boobs, they're the ones who have breast implants. We can't say the same thing of the President,? he said in a briefing.
Earlier, Arroyo's political adviser on Friday expressed shock at reports that she had a breast implant replacement at the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa City.
?What? Silicon implants? That's the first time I heard about that,? Secretary Gabriel Claudio said in a phone interview. ?No way; I just heard that from you. I thought you were joking.?
Claudio said that he had ?absolutely no information? about Arroyo's breast implant replacement, adding he was not even aware that she had an implant in the first place.
?I'd be curious to find out where that information came from,? he said.
Two other broadsheets reported that Arroyo checked in at the Asian Hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa early this week for a repair of leaking breast implants done in the 1980s.
Arroyo checked in at the hospital on Tuesday night for a self-imposed quarantine, a day after she arrived from a 13-day swing through Japan, Brazil, Colombia and Hong Kong.
She checked out Thursday afternoon with a ?clean bill of health,? officials said.
Claudio believed that Arroyo merely underwent quarantine at the hospital as part of the protocol against the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.
?I have no reason to believe that she underwent any other treatment,? he said.
