Comelec chief collapses in office, is rushed to hospital

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE) Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has been declared stable after he fainted at his office at the Palacio del Gobernador Building in Intramuros, Manila at around 6:30 p.m., a spokesman for the Comelec said.

James Jimenez said the chairman was in stable condition as of 9 p.m. at the Manila Doctors Hospital.

“He’s conscious and he’s okay. The initial diagnosis was that it was caused by gastrointestinal problem,” Jimenez said over the phone.

Jimenez said Brillantes’ family was on their way to Manila Doctors to fetch him and bring him to the Asian Hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, where the chairman’s personal physician is.

Brillantes was appointed Comelec’s chair on January 16 this year,
following the retirement of Jose Melo.  He will continue Melo’s unfinished term until 2015.