Kris Aquino defends older brother Noynoy Aquino amid speculations that he is using his health issues to leave the country. Image: Instagram/@krisaquino
While former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has said through his former spokesperson that the heart procedure he underwent was “routine,” his sister Kris Aquino has called for giving him respect and assured that it was not a “ploy” for him to leave the country.
Yesterday, Dec. 9, DZRH News reported that Aquino was set to undergo a heart procedure. His former spokesperson Abigail Valte said it was a “scheduled check-up and a routine procedure” and that he even joked that it was because he was “heartbroken.”
READ: Heart ailment? Aquino says he’s only heartbroken — Valte
Amid the news, Kris posted a picture of her brother and eldest son Josh taken years back, calling Josh her brother’s “text mate.” She said choosing a private life put him at risk of “unnecessary speculation” and that she hoped the public “can all give him the respect & kindness our fellow man deserves.”
She also belied speculations that his health issues were so he could exit the country to receive medical treatment. Kris shared a screenshot of a report in August stating that cases had been dropped against the former head of state and that the hold departure order (HDO) against him had been lifted.
“Please stop showing the world na puro fake news ang alam nyo (all you know is fake news) by making this out to be a ploy about Noy wanting to leave the Philippines for treatment,” she said.
“For more than 3 months he could have easily traveled abroad, he chose not to because there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than home.”
The former Philippine President was issued an HDO in 2017 after an antigraft court found probable cause on the Mamasapano case against him—the botched police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindano, which led to the deaths of 44 police special commandos.
READ: Sandiganbayan issues hold departure order on Aquino
Back then, he posted P40,000 bail in cash for the usurpation of authority and graft charges. It was reported too that he was not fond of traveling. /ra
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