Morato to undergo heart bypass surgery

FORMER PCSO chair Manuel “Manoling” Morato. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office director Manuel L. Morato will undergo shortly a coronary, or heart bypass surgery upon the recommendation of his doctors at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, where he is under hospital arrest.

Morato, who has been placed in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer “it (the surgery) would be immediate because according to my doctors, I have clogged vessels and a weak valve.”

“My heart is in a very bad condition. It is functioning less than 50 percent,” he disclosed.

In a text message, Morato said on Tuesday, “I’ve gone through so many medical examinations leading to the final one yesterday, the coronary angiogram.”

“The procedure went well, but the result was terrible. My doctors told me my heart is in a very bad condition. I never thought I was on this condition. I did right to go to hospital the way I felt that morning of Oct. 4,” he also said.

On Tuesday, Morato was transferred “from my room on the 4th floor to the cardio section while awaiting surgery.”

On Monday, the Sandiganbayan deferred Morato’s arraignment for plunder because of his medical condition.

He and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are among the accused in the alleged misuse of over P325 million in PCSO intelligence funds.

The anti-graft court reset their arraignment to Oct. 29 but Ms Arroyo’s lawyer appealed to the court to push the date further, saying he was filing a certiorari before the Supreme Court to challenge the plunder findings of the Office of the Ombudsman against the former president.

Last week, Morato’s cardiologist, Dr. Ma. Adelaida Iboleon-Dy said her patient needed to stay longer at the hospital to become medically stable and safe.

In a two-page medical certificate, Dy cited a “possibility of a potential surgical intervention if the condition cannot be controlled medically.”

Morato was “diagnosed with cardiac dysrhythmia, valvular heart disease, aortic stenosis, hypertension and chronic pulmonary disease.”

Dy said Morato had been admitted several times in the past at St. Luke’s for symptoms related to these problems.

“Although his valvular heart disease is not uncommon for a 79-year-old, his aortic valve area is in the moderate to severe stage with evidence of cardiac enlargement and increased pressure gradients, which considering his arrhythmia, may potentially be fatal if left untreated,” she also said.

According to Dy, Morato is “therefore advised continued hospital stay while undergoing further treatment and close observation and monitoring until such time that we can assure him of medical stability and safety.”

Dy had conferred with the NBI about his medical condition.

“I also learned that I have a severe case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is blamed on my being a smoker,” he said.

Morato said, “My condition was partly controlled three years ago, but it deteriorated because of the stress I’m going through. All these medical problems were exacerbated by the tremendous stress that the current PCSO board has made me and my former colleagues undergo.”

“(PCSO chair) Margarita Juico and her cohorts maneuvered it all to shame us and for publicity,” he claimed.

Morato, also a PCSO chair during the Ramos administration, reiterated, “I didn’t steal anything from the government,” noting “money doesn’t interest me at all. Never in my entire life.”

He has asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the plunder charges filed against him by the Ombudsman, citing lack of probable cause.

Stressing he has been a “victim of political persecution,” he asked the court to recall the arrest warrant it issued against him.