Noynoy in hospital

FORMER President Benigno Aquino III is confined at the Makati Medical Center where he is scheduled to undergo a heart surgery, the Makati police chief said yesterday.

According to Makati City Police Station chief Colonel Rogelio Simon, they got the information from the head of the Makati Medical Center security division.

“Former President Benigno Aquino is positive at the said hospital for his heart operation. Surgery will be done anytime of the day or by tomorrow,” Simon said.

Aquino’s spokesperson however clarified the former president was in hospital for a scheduled checkup, not a heart operation.

“Former President Noynoy Aquino is at the Makati Medical Center for a scheduled check up and a routine procedure,” Valte said. “He’s all right and in high spirits, and thanks everyone for their concern.”

Valte said the former President even made a joke about his love life when she spoke with him.

“While he is currently under observation, I was able to speak to him and apprise him of what is being reported in media. Nagbiro pa na baka daw kaya heart procedure ang balita kasi heartbroken siya,” she said.

“What business does Mr. Simon have in issuing medical bulletins in behalf of the former president?” Valte told GMA News Online.

“He’s neither the attending physician nor a medical doctor, unless he is intentionally sharing unverified information,” she added.

The Makati City police chief said that they got the information that the former president has already been confined at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit as part of the medical procedure.

In 2012, the former president was urged by the country’s top doctors to quit smoking for the sake of the country citing the fact that his father, the late Senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino Jr., had a history of heart attacks.

Before and shortly after he won the presidency in 2010, Aquino was known to be frequently being seen smoking in public. A year after he became president, he stopped smoking in public but is known to smoke his favorite cigar in private and in the company of friends.

Health officials during the Aquino administration tried hard to convince him to quit smoking to set an example for the rest of the country which has a very large number of smokers.