Gloria Arroyo rushed to Veterans Memorial Medical Center

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was rushed to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, her spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn said Friday morning.   The incumbent Representative of the second district of Pampanga complained of acute cervical and lumbar pain as she was brought to the VMMC. It has been seven days since she left the VMMC on July 27 when she was granted temporary liberty. She was allowed to post P1-million bail for a poll sabotage case she is currently facing before the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 112. On July 31, she briefly attended the session of the House. Wearing a neck brace, she was escorted by her son, Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo. The former President attended the session for only 20 minutes.    Mrs. Arroyo said her attendance at Tuesday’s session was only a “dry run” for next week. She said she wanted to participate in the crucial vote on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill on August 7. Mrs. Arroyo is a known critic of the measure. “That's why I’m strengthening myself today, so that I'll be sure to be here (on Tuesday),” she said. Mrs. Arroyo had missed sessions since July last year after she was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in her spine. She was arrested last November and was placed under hospital detention for eight months.   The former President managed to attend only 35 of the 59 session days last year, based on records from the office of the House secretary-general. This makes Mrs. Arroyo one of the top absentees in the lower chamber last year.   'Gasping, fragile'   House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, who accompanied Mrs. Arroyo during her brief comeback at the lower chamber, said the former President was “gasping” for breath while walking to the plenary hall.   “She [Mrs. Arroyo] is happy na nakarating siya kahit sandali lang. I noticed from the time she left her vehicle up to her seat, talagang humihingal,” Suarez said in a separate interview.   The opposition leader added that the former Philippine leader could not even climb the flight of stairs leading to her office on the Batasan Pambansa’s second floor.   Suarez likewise said that he thinks Mrs. Arroyo is not yet healthy enough to continue her duties as a lawmaker.   “Looking at her fragile condition, I really have my doubts whether she can participate in budget deliberations,” he said.   The ex-President underwent three operations last year at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City to correct the pinched nerve in her spine. A titanium implant was placed in her neck to correct her condition. — with Mark Merueñas/ELR, GMA News