Ex-Gov. Guerrero in critical condition

Former Gov. Larry Guerrero underwent a major brain surgery yesterday afternoon at the Makati Medical Center in the Philippines after he suffered a stroke in his hotel room. He is still at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

Mr. Guerrero, 65, left for Manila Monday evening to close a deal with some Filipino businessmen for a possible export of mango juice to other Asian countries.

The family of Mr. Guerrero left last night for Manila to be with the former governor, who was reported to be in serious condition.

At around 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, Mr. Guerrero was scheduled to have a breakfast meeting with a businessman friend at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City where he was billeted. The business associate called up his room on the ninth floor to say that he was already waiting in the lobby, but there was no answer.

The businessman then decided to go to the ninth floor’s Millennium Executive Club and asked the receptionist to call Mr. Guerrero just to let him know that he was in the hotel.

He waited for the ex-governor at the hotel’s coffee shop but after 30 minutes Mr. Guerrero still has not showed up. The businessman asked the receptionist again to check Mr. Guerrero only to be told that there was no response from his room.

Worried that it was taking the former chief executive a long time to come down to the coffee shop, the businessman requested the hotel management to open Room 947 where Mr. Guerrero was staying.

A receptionist and a hotel staff decided to open the room and found Mr. Guerrero, still in his pajamas, sprawled on the floor near the bed. Shocked, the hotel receptionist immediately called the businessman to rush to the room.

Mr. Guerrero even tried to talk and move his left leg and arm.. He even tried to call the name of his business associate.

He was rushed to nearby San Juan De Dios Hospital where doctors tried to stabilize his blood pressure. A brain scan performed on Mr. Guerrero showed that he was suffering from internal bleeding caused by ruptured blood vessel in the brain.

The businessman then decided to bring Mr. Guerrero to a bigger hospital, the Makati Medical Center. A neuro surgeon at the hospital recommended immediate surgery to stop the internal bleeding.

Mr. Guerrero, a Republican, was the third governor of the Commonwealth. He ran but lost in his reelection bid against Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio, a Democrat, in 1993.