Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando. Image from Instagram
Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando has denied that he suffered from a stroke during a public speaking engagement at the provincial capitol last September 11.
A video of the event where Fernando was seen not being able to speak on the microphone at the capitol gymnasium as he was addressing his constituents recently made the rounds of social media. He was initially signaling somebody to come forward.
Vice Governor Alex Castro went to his side and as the two of them talked silently, the governor could be seen holding on to him for support, as another man, presumably a security detail, came to their side to help escort him off the stage. The incident prompted several netizens who have seen the video to comment that he may have suffered a stroke.
Fernando, however, belied that he suffered a stroke.
“Mga kababayan kong Bulakenyo, ‘wag po kayong mag-alala. Wala pong nangyari sa akin. Walang nangyaring stroke, ano po. Nagpapahinga lang po ako. Thank you,” Fernando said in an interview on GMA News. (My fellow Bulakenyo, don’t worry. Nothing happened to me. I did not suffer from stroke, whatever. I am just taking a rest).
Castro also claimed that Fernando was just told to take a rest.
“Bigyan lang natin siya ng panahon na makapagpahinga nang konti. Break lang muna para maka-recover siya. (We should give him time to rest a little. Let’s give him a break for him to recover). He’s okay. He’s completely fine. He just needs rest dahil na-overfatigue na ang ating governor sa katatrabaho (he suffered from fatigue because he’s working too hard),” Castro said.
A statement from the Bulacan Provincial Public Affairs Office stated that Fernando was immediately seen by his cardiologist after the incident, who concluded that “the recent irregularity to his action in an event was due to exhaustion, over fatigue and dehydration.” EDV