Minority Leader Danilo Suarez: Sympathetic. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Minority Leader Danilo Suarez on Wednesday appealed to the government to show compassion for former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and allow her to travel abroad to seek treatment abroad.
In a press conference at the House of Representatives, he said the declining health of the lawmaker should be a non-partisan issue and Arroyo should be granted an allow-departure order to override the hold-departure order lodged against her.
Arroyo could not eat solid food for fear of choking, he added, asking, “If you cannot eat because there’s a chance of choking, what will you do? Hindi ka na makakakain (meaning there is) no nourishment.”
Suarez cited the medical bulletin made by the former President’s cardiologist Dr. Roberto Anastacio, which described Arroyo to be at risk of “sudden death” and another medical bulletin from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, which said that another procedure called Barium swallow could not be conducted on the former chief executive as it could further complicate her condition.
Saying that both private and public doctors’ observations that Arroyo’s life was at risk, Suarez urged the government to allow Arroyo to find a neuro-cervical spine purist based in New York who can give a second opinion on her health condition.
He said that it was best for the former President to travel to New York as the specialist they may have found might be busy with other patients. Also, he added, it may be too expensive to have an entire medical team fly to the Philippines to treat Arroyo.
“The doctor is in New York. I didn’t ask the name (but the Arroyo camp) researched or her doctors from Makati Med must have recommended. The issue is that the doctor must be a neuro-cervical spine purist. We don’t have that here,” Suarez said.