TOKYO (AP) - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's plane made an emergency landing in Japan on Friday after her husband fell ill on board, airport police said.
Arroyo was on her way from Manila to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru.
The plane landed at Kansai International Airport in western Japan, an airport police official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment after a doctor who was standing by examined him on board, the police official said, adding that the illness was related to a chronic health problem. Arroyo's husband underwent heart surgery in 2007.
His condition was not believed to be life-threatening, but he needed to be hospitalized and would stay behind while Arroyo continues on to Lima via Los Angeles for the APEC summit, the official said.
No other details about her husband's condition were immediately known, he added. Police earlier received information that he was complaining of stomach pains.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Japan issued a special entry permit for the patient but refused to give details about his condition. The hospital also refused to comment.
The police official said Arroyo's husband was the only person who got off the plane, and the president and her staff remained on board. Her husband was accompanied to the hospital by three Philippine Consulate officials based in Osaka, he said.
Kyodo News agency later reported Arroyo was accompanying her husband at the hospital.
The plane was to take off for Los Angeles after refueling, but there was no sign of departure nearly two hours after landing, another police official said, also on condition of anonymity citing security reasons. He declined to comment on the president's whereabouts.
Philippine Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed that the president's husband was feeling ill. He did not have other details.
Arroyo's husband, an attorney from a prominent family, has no official powers but is regarded as an influential back-room operator and is a vocal backer of his wife against political rivals.
He was implicated last year in a kickback scandal involving a Chinese telecommunications project during Senate investigations. He has denied any involvement.
In April last year, doctors performed a triple bypass on him to prevent his main heart artery from rupturing and clogging. |