GMA shortens China visit

President Arroyo will cut short a five-day visit to China next week to four hours so she can return to her ailing husband’s bedside, officials said yesterday.

Mrs. Arroyo, originally due to visit China from April 20 to 25, will now only address a business forum in Hainan province on April 21, said her protocol chief Marciano Paynor Jr.

Mrs. Arroyo had considered calling off the trip after her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, had heart surgery on Monday to repair a leak in the main artery and a triple-bypass of another artery.

The improvement in her husband’s condition led Mrs. Arroyo to push through with a shortened trip, said Paynor.

Paynor said Mrs. Arroyo’s trip would last for a total of 12 hours, eight of which would be for her flight to and from China.

Mrs. Arroyo has decided to push through with the trip since she would be the main speaker for the Boao Forum of the Asia Annual Conference, he added.

Paynor said Mrs. Arroyo would be in Boao, Hainan province on April 21 and would immediately leave after her speech.

"The President wants to be here for the First Gentleman, but since the prognosis is good and there is a commitment, so the President has decided she’ll attend the Boao Forum," he said.

Mrs. Arroyo was supposed to visit five cities/provinces in China for five days next week, but had to reconsider because of the open-heart surgery that her husband went through last Monday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo consulted with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo about the trip in light of the circumstances surrounding her husband.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Mrs. Arroyo’s trip to China was significant and that the government is expecting more than $2 billion in investments.

In the annual Boao Forum, Paynor said Mrs. Arroyo would be making a report on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the ASEAN general forum.

The Philippines is currently chair of the ASEAN.

Mrs. Arroyo has been staying at a suite of the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City since Monday when the First Gentleman underwent a 10-hour operation.

Mrs. Arroyo has since left the hospital only two times, for three hours on Thursday when she went to Malacañang, and for close to three hours again yesterday to attend Mass and to visit the victims of a fire in Mandaluyong.

Mrs. Arroyo’s husband remained hooked up to a ventilator yesterday and is also undergoing dialysis because his breathing and kidney functions have not yet returned to normal.

Mrs. Arroyo has remained by her husband’s side throughout most of his hospital confinement, setting up a makeshift office in an adjoining hospital room so she can conduct official business while overseeing his condition. — with AFP