GMA: NOT KNOWING WHAT AILS ME IS KILLING ME / AQUINO UPHOLDS TRAVEL BAN
MANILA, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 (STANDARD) by Christine F. Herrera - FORMER President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Monday the uncertainty of not knowing her disease and if there is a cure for it was "killing'' her.
"All that the doctors could tell me is that I have an extremely rare bone disease," Arroyo told the Manila Standard in an exclusive interview, her first since her operation.
"But they could not offer any answer—not even a cure. They don't know what the disease is, and you cannot know the cure if you don't know what it is to be cured, and no one here knows or has the expertise to do the protocol."
Arroyo, who was so sure about everything she did as the country's top decision maker for nine years, said that, for the first time, she felt unsure about how to deal with her health problems.
"I feel like any human being would feel not knowing the illness," she said.
"How would you feel if you knew something was wrong with you but not knowing what it was? I know something is wrong with me. The operations had failed despite the doctors at St. Luke's having done everything."
Every pill she had to take to stay her deteriorating health was a struggle, Arroyo said. She choked on food and small pills. She used to take 25 to 30 tablets but decided to forgo half of them, including painkillers and vitamins, and focus only on the most important medicines.
Now she is down to 15 tablets a day.
"For every tablet I take, I have to gulp down lots of water or I will choke. So after all those 15 tablets are taken, I am already so full and so tired."
Arroyo said she couldn't swallow, and she choked easily because her neck was opened up three times to screw braces on it to support her spinal column. She was diagnosed with hypocalcemia secondary to acute hypoparathyroidism, vitamin D deficiency and osteopenia.
Roberto Mirasol of the St. Luke's Medical Center said an "undelying rare metabolic bone disease could not be totally ruled out, and she may require a bone biopsy."
Arroyo said she had an appointment today, Nov. 8, with doctors in Singapore, but the government had barred her from leaving. She had another appointment with doctors in Alecante, Spain, on Nov. 14. She said she could not ask the Singaporean doctors to come here because "the protocol has not been done here."
"I have an extremely rare metabolic mineral bone disease, but how rare and what it is, nobody knows—even the doctors here do not know," Arroyo said. The bone experts were very few even in the United States, she said.
"There are only five bone experts in America but there are more in Europe, and their research findings there is more advanced."
Arroyo has lost 10 pounds since she learned of her rare disease. The symptoms she had before her surgery were coming back, and those were aggravating her worries.
"The numbness of my fingers and the cramps in my legs are coming back, and that only shows the disease is there, and I want to find out what it is and if there is a cure for it," Arroyo said.
FROM THE MANILA TIMES
Aquino upholds GMA travel ban Published : Thursday, November 10, 2011 00:00 Article Views : 104 Written by : By Jaime Pilapil, Reporter
Ex-leader's presence needed in arraignment
President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Wednesday defended the government's decision to stop former President Gloria Arroyo from traveling abroad, saying that she has to be here for her arraignment. He said that the interest of the many takes precedence over the interest of Mrs. Arroyo, who is facing charges of plunder and electoral sabotage.
During a surprise press briefing, President Aquino said that he was backing Justice Secretary Leila de Lima's decision to deny a request of Mrs. Arroyo for an Allow Departure Order [ADO] "to ensure that the wheels of justice will grind."
"I agree [with] the decision of [de Lima] not to allow for the meantime Mrs. Arroyo to go abroad. This is reasonable since she [former president] has to be present during arraignment, if we reach that point," the President added.
Mrs. Arroyo earlier filed before the Department of Justice a request to remove her from a watch list and issue an ADO certification.
De Lima denied the request on Tuesday.
Mr. Aquino said that he was wishing for immediate recuperation of his predecessor from her illness. But, he added, his administration does not want the case to get stuck since it has big impact on the country's democracy.
"We are now in the preliminary investigation [of] Mrs. Arroyo's case. If she chose not to return, how [would] we give her the chance to answer the charges lodged against her? Who will be answerable to all the cases? We all want justice," Mr. Aquino said.
According to the President, he was giving preference to the interest of the many, instead of the interest of one person, adding that the electoral-sabotage and plunder cases that Mrs. Arroyo was facing are non-bailable.
Mr. Aquino, however, offered a formula on getting foreign doctors who specialize in the illness that has been bothering the former president.
"In recognition of her right to personally choose her doctor, we could bring in the doctor of her choice [here in the Philippines from] anywhere in the world so that [that] specialist physician can examine her," the President said, reading from a prepared speech.
Mr. Aquino added that the government was willing to foot the bill in bringing foreign doctors who will attend to the medical needs of the ex-leader.
This move, he said, was meant "to make sure that the accused will have her day in court and justice will prevail in this country."
The President was asked if he was ready to meet Mrs. Arroyo face-to-face. "Yes, why not, I can meet her just like before," he said.
Mr. Aquino added that the former president could not be tried in absentia unless she had been arraigned.
The President doubted the sincerity of Mrs. Arroyo, citing inconsistent declarations in her request for foreign travel before the House of Representatives and the Department of Justice.
"She told Congress that she was going to six countries. But she only listed three countries in her ADO application [with] the DOJ. She also did not enumerate the hospitals and the doctors she wanted to consult. Just last week, she changed one of the countries she wanted to visit," Mr. Aquino said.
"Is it not right to cast doubt on her intention if she keeps on changing her mind?" he asked.
The President said that it was only on November 2 that Mrs. Arroyo named the specialist who will be looking after her.
Mr. Aquino added that he was also wondering why Mrs. Arroyo was questioning before the court a circular issued under her term.
He was referring to Department Circular 41, which restrains the travel of those with court cases. When also asked if the government was just passing the burden to the Supreme Court, which is known for unpopular decisions vis-à-vis the current administration, the President said, "We have already made a decision on the matter."
Mr. Aquino started the press briefing by saying that Mrs. Arroyo was clear on several facts, like she had undergone three operations, that her condition was improving and that she does not need to be treated abroad.
He also cited pronouncements of the Philippine Medical Association that said that hospitals in the country could perform bone biopsy treatment.
The President said that one-and-a-half years more and there would be elections again and that his administration was determined to put an end to irregular polls.
"If we will not correct the mistakes of the past, it's as if we are allowing the crooks to continue [abusing] the system."
Mr. Aquino said it was about time to bring back credible elections so that justice would reign for the welfare of the people.
He added that the government was confident that the case against Mrs. Arroyo would prosper despite pending petitions before the Supreme Court.
"I think we have confidence in one of these cases but also and that's why we are painstakingly going through the process to ensure that there is an airtight case that eventually will wind up in our courts," the President said.
Mrs. Arroyo has until November 13 to file her counter-affidavit before the Justice department on the electoral-sabotage case filed against her. With reports from Llanesca T. Panti And Jefferson Antiporda
FROM MALAYA
Aquino adamant: Gloria can't leave BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR PRESIDENT Aquino yesterday said government is prepared to fly in and pay for medical specialists for former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, after the Department of Justice rejected her request to seek medical treatment abroad.
Aquino, in a press conference in Malacañang, said his administration acknowledges that Arroyo is sick, but supports the decision of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
"Bilang pagkilala sa karapatan ni Ginang Arroyo na personal na pumili ng mga espesyalistang doktor na magbibigay-lunas sa kaniya, maaari tayong magpapunta dito ng mga espesyalista o manggagamot mula sa alin mang panig ng mundo upang magsagawa ng kaniyang eksaminasyong medical," he said.
"Kung kinakailangan, handa nating sagutin ang mga tungkuling pinansyal sa pagpapagamot ni Ginang Arroyo," he added.
Arroyo's camp has said she has to go abroad because the bone biopsy procedure she has to undergo is not available in the country. Arroyo is fighting a travel ban imposed on her by De Lima.
Aquino supported the arguments of the DOJ in rejecting Arroyo's travel request. He said apart from the lack of extradition treaties with countries Arroyo intends to visit, there are pending complaints against her which she personally needs to answer.
Aquino said Arroyo was also not clear about whom he would visit in the countries of destination.
"Kung magpapaalam ka para magpagamot ng iyong karamdaman, mula't sapul pa lamang ay alam mo na kung kanino ka kokonsulta at kung nasaang bansa siya, lalo pa kung alam mong may nakabinbing kaso laban sa iyo," he said.
Aquino said allowing Arroyo to leave the country would be an unacceptable risk.
"We also wish for the immediate recovery of Mrs. Arroyo, but let me ask you — if we allow an accused with a pending non-bailable case to travel to countries without extradition treaties with the Philippines to seek medical care for an ailment that can be addressed sufficiently in our own hospitals, is justice prevailing?" Aquino said. "In case she chooses not to return, how can we compel her to answer the charges?"
Arroyo is facing a complaint of electoral sabotage of the 2007 polls.
Aquino said his government is bent on ending anomalies in elections. "Kung hindi natin maiwawasto ang kamalian ng nakaraan, para na rin nating hinihikayat ang mga halang ang bituka na ipagpatuloy ang pang-aabuso sa sistema," he said.
Aquino said there is no politics or personal motive involved in the DOJ decision, and he is open to meeting with Arroyo if needed.
Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, called Aquino's administration "a bunch of schoolyard bullies."
Arroyo's camp has released photographs to newspapers of the 64-year-old ex-leader looking frail and wearing a head-and-neck brace.
Rep. Arroyo's spokeswoman, Elena Bautista-Horn, said fears that the former president will not return to the country is just a "figment" of De Lima's imagination.
She said Arroyo could have escaped the country after Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, her appointee, was replaced.
"When Ombudsman Gutierrez resigned, a lot of people were saying na di na 'yan babalik kasi wala na si Merci Gutierrez, pero bumalik po siya. She is coming back. All (of these are) a figment of their imagination," Horn told a television interview.
Horn also said if Arroyo had wanted to deceive government, she could have easily asked the justice department to issue an allow departure order to a country where the Philippines has an extradition treaty and just fly to another destination.
Horn said Arroyo has also issued an affidavit to the DoJ stating she would return after treatment but the justice department kept demanding for additional travel requirements.
"Nag-comply po kami sa requirements, pero tuwing maka-comply kami, makakaisip sila ng iba pang requirements," she said.
She said the administration has "all the powers" and they should not make it appear that they are helpless."
Horn thanked Aquino for offering government's help in bringing in specialists from abroad to treat Arroyo.
"Paano pa namin ita-trust yung sinumang doktor na dadalhin dito (kung sinira na ng Palasyo ang pangako nila noon)?" she asked.
Horn said the former president does not have to wait for her condition to get worse to prove that she has to receive treatment from specialists abroad.
"Napakaraming klase ng sakit na bone mineral disorder. Hindi matumbok yung sakit na yun, kailangan ng biopsy. Kung gusto niyo na (kailangang) naghihingalo siya, she is her on dying day, that is not the situation," she said. – With Wendell Vigilia
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