MANILA, Philippines—A meal did what protests could not do.

A “combination of bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls) and dinuguan (blood stew)” downed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last week.

The fare caused Ms Arroyo to suffer an upset stomach, Presidential Management Staff Secretary Cerge Remonde said Sunday.

Remonde said that he, too, had an upset stomach after eating the same food combination when he and the President attended the wake for the mother of Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza on Thursday afternoon.

“It was nothing serious,” said Remonde, who, like Ms Arroyo, had since recovered from the ailment.

Since she took office in 2001, Ms Arroyo has survived not only attempts to impeach her but also efforts to oust her through a coup or street protests.

On Friday, Palace officials announced that Ms Arroyo was suffering an upset stomach but was “OK” after she skipped the arrival honors in Malacañang for visiting Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Ahmad a-Sabah.

It was Vice President Noli de Castro who took Ms Arroyo’s place at the ceremonies held on the Palace grounds.

Reporters noticed that Ms Arroyo’s personal physician, Dr. Juliet Gopez-Cervantes, was at the Palace grounds, prompting speculation that the President was ill.

Ms Arroyo was seen later that evening at the signing ceremony for three agreements aimed at enhancing trade and bilateral relations between the Philippines and Kuwait.

Since arriving early last week from China where she attended the Beijing Olympics, Ms Arroyo has cut down on her hectic schedule.

Before her latest ailment, Ms Arroyo had suffered illnesses that included her landing in the hospital for fever, colds and acute diarrhea.

Remonde said it was Ms Arroyo’s partaking of that meal that did it this time not only for her but also for him and some congressmen who had gone to Mendoza’s house on Thursday.

“The food was really good,” Remonde said of the meal they all had that day, noting that he only found too late that “the elders considered bilo-bilo and dinuguan a deadly combination.”

But he said that unlike Ms Arroyo, his upset stomach was not that bad. He attributed this to the noodles that he ate in addition to the bilo-bilo and dinuguan.

“That must have neutralized it,” he said of the noodles.

Remonde said Ms Arroyo and he laughed about the incident when they got to talk about it on Saturday.

Feeling better, she went to Lubao, Pampanga, the other day upon the invitation of her son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo.

“The President even ate fried balut,” Remonde said.