Phl envoy to China suffers stroke

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady has suffered a stroke in Beijing, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said yesterday.

“It happened at noontime Wednesday at her residence in Beijing. Ambassador Brady is in the hospital where she is undergoing tests. Her condition is stable but she is under observation,” Hernandez told The STAR.

Brady, who recently turned 71, retired in 2007 and admitted to the Commission on Appointments (CA) during the hearing on her nomination in May that she suffered a stroke earlier this year.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III asked Brady if she could handle the high-pressure job and if she felt that she was strong enough to last.

Brady said that she underwent therapy and was certified by her doctors as being fully recovered.

The CA confirmed in May the appointment of Brady as the Philippine ambassador to China, less than a week after her nomination was announced by Malacañang.

Brady, a retired career foreign service officer, had no problems hurdling her confirmation hearing because of her extensive experience as a former ambassador to China and undersecretary for policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

She breezed through the CA unlike President Aquino’s original nominee, businessman Domingo Lee, who underwent three hearings without getting a favorable action.

The urgency of sending an official representative of the country to China was well understood by CA members.

The CA said that the waiving of the requirements for Brady was allowed because there is a critical matter that the country has to attend to in China, as the country was locked in a standoff with China over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Brady told the CA that her mission to China was clear and that her experience in dealing with Chinese officials would help ease tensions between the two nations.