Erap rushed to hospital

Suffering from pneumonia, deposed President Joseph Estrada was airlifted to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan shortly before noon yesterday from his sprawling 15-hectare estate in Tanay, Rizal.

"He has had fever the past three days. The fever has not gone away so the family and his doctor have decided to bring him to a hospital," said Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, his eldest son.

Former journalist Ferdie Ramos, one of the elder Estrada’s media handlers, confirmed that pneumonia has affected "one-fourth" of the 67-year-old former actor’s lungs.

Ramos said in a text message that Estrada is under the care of Dr. Cecil Tady, who heads the pulmonary medicine division of the hospital. Another handler said Estrada’s condition was "nothing serious, just slight pneumonia."

At Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye expressed concern for Estrada’s medical condition as he brushed aside criticisms that the Arroyo administration is giving Estrada special treatment.

"That is, I think, a normal response to a medical emergency. And he should be given medical treatment," he said. "We would like to accord the former president the medical treatment he needs."

Ramos said Estrada did not want to be confined but was scolded by his eldest sister, a physician, into admitting himself to the hospital. Dr. Larry Hocson, the Estrada family’s doctor, earlier said he suspected the former president was suffering from pneumonia.

Estrada is recuperating from knee surgery he underwent in Hong Kong in December, but Hocson said the fever was not necessarily related to the operation. The former president had his arthritic knees replaced with titanium implants and still has to undergo two months of physical therapy.

"I visited him yesterday. He had a fever, a cough and his whole body was sore when I examined him," he said.

Jinggoy said they had his father airlifted to the hospital since it was "an emergency" and there are no medical facilities at the Tanay resthouse.

"We cannot say yet how long he will have to stay there. It all depends on the doctors. Anyway, we have informed the (Sandiganbayan) sheriff. But this has nothing to do with his knees," he told The STAR.

Estrada was to undergo a series of tests at the hospital.

Asked if Estrada will be confined, Hocson said "it depends on the results of the x-ray and the blood test. If it looks like he needs to be confined, he will be confined."

According to ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol news program, Estrada will be confined for three to five days.

Sandiganbayan Sheriff Ed Urieta said everything was "coordinated" and that no procedures were violated since he had been informed of Estrada’s condition before he was airlifted to the hospital.

Urieta added that he went to the hospital to check on Estrada’s condition and "submit a report" to the Sandiganbayan special division trying the Estradas on plunder charges.

Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said they find nothing objectionable in transporting Estrada to the hospital if it is, indeed, an emergency, but added that "eventually his lawyers will have to inform the Sandiganbayan."

"It’s okay with us if it’s an emergency. If it is (for) reasons of health, then we have no problem with that. For as long as he is going to seek treatment in a hospital, it’s okay with us. Besides, how old is he now? It would be better if he is brought to the hospital," he said.

Estrada was ousted by a military-backed popular revolt in January 2001 on charges that he amassed a personal fortune of some $80 million from tobacco tax levies and illegal gambling funds during his 30 months in office. He was later arrested on the same charges.

In July last year, he was transferred from a military hospital to the Tanay resthouse. His trial has been dragging on for months at the Sandiganbayan’s special division, but is set to resume in mid-February.

Despite his fall from power, Estrada — a former top movie star — still retains immense popularity, especially among the poor.

He is widely seen as a leader of the opposition and is a harsh, outspoken critic of President Arroyo, the woman who replaced him.

According to the Merck Manual of Medical Information, pneumonia — an infection of the lungs that involves the alveoli or small air sacs and the tissues around them — "may follow surgery, particularly abdominal surgery... because of the resulting shallow breathing, impaired ability to cough, and retention of mucus."

Some people are more vulnerable to pneumonia than others. The Merck Manual states that "alcoholism, cigarette smoking, diabetes, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease all predispose people to pneumonia. " — With Non Alquitran, Dulce Arguelles, AFP