Noy to take 3-day break

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino, whose incessant coughing has alarmed health officials, is taking a three-day break during the Christmas holiday.

“Upon the recommendation of (Health) Secretary (Enrique) Ona, the President will take a break from work starting Dec. 27,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told Palace reporters in a text message yesterday.

A separate text message from Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications and Operations Office said the President will perform his official duty on Rizal Day, Dec. 30, which falls on a Monday.

Lacierda could not say though where the Chief Executive will spend his Christmas. Previously, the President spent the Christmas holidays in his official residence in Bahay Pangarap or with his sisters in Tarlac or in Baguio City.

Lacierda tossed the job to assistant secretary for media relations Rey Marfil, who advises reporters on the activities of the President.

He said Aquino “will continue to work,” citing paperwork and his meeting with some Cabinet members, particularly those whose jobs are related with the rehabilitation of Typhoon Yolanda-hit provinces.

Ona has advised the President to rest, even on a quarterly basis, for him to be always healthy. Aquino had been down with flu, allergic rhinitis and a bum stomach.

“I think he should do that more often. You must remember that his health is the concern of the whole country,” Ona told reporters in a chance interview.

“Secretary Ona has long been telling me to rest, to take a vacation. I was telling him that would come,” Aquino said.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, a smoker herself, had dismissed suggestions for the President to undergo an executive check-up, saying his condition is “nothing serious.”

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said it is up to the President if he wants to undergo medical checkup.

“This is the President’s health that you are speaking about and it’s something for the President to consider, of course, with his doctor and Secretary Ona. I mean, everybody catches a cold and catches flu,” he told reporters in a briefing in Malacañang.

“I don’t think that’s anything serious… my coughing is as notorious as the President’s coughing but I’m in good shape. So I don’t see any need to be unnecessarily concerned about the President’s health,” he added.