Victorias Mayor Severo Palanca, 73, did not collapse and suffer a stroke, he is doing well and will be released from the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City in a few days, his doctor said last night.

Dr. Ernesto Palanca made the clarification because of media reports yesterday that he had a stroke and collapsed.

Gov. Joseph Marañon who visited Palanca last night, also said he was talking and looked well.

At 3 p.m. Saturday the mayor was at the lobby of the Casino Hotel at the Goldenfields Commercial Complex in Bacolod City when he suffered from indigestion after eating "ma-ho (dried shredded meat)" and strawberry shake that caused him to vomit and raised his blood pressure to 140 over 100, the doctor said.

He was rushed to the hospital but has since been transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit into an ordinary room. We have kept him in the hospital for a diagnostic workup and to give him some time to rest but he will be released in a couple of days, the doctor said.

In 2003, the mayor experienced a sudden rise in blood pressure of 220 over 110 preceded by a paroxysmal vomiting. The episode caused a small blood leak in the right cerebral portion of his brain that was successfully treated without an operation, the doctor said.

The mayor was discharged after a month and soon after returned to his normal routine without evidence of motor or sensory deficit, the doctor said. Because of what happened to Mayor Palanca four years ago, great care and judicious action was done to avoid a repetition of the 2003 incident when he was admitted on April 7, the doctor said.

A neurologist and an internist were consulted and a brain scan was conducted on the mayor. An abnormality was seen in the area where the previous scar in 2003 is located that can be cured with rest and controlled blood pressure, the doctor explained.

Since the mayor has been admitted he has been fully conscious and coherent with no signs of any abnormality noted. His blood pressure has remained at an average of 110 to 120 over 70 to 80, and his cardiac rate is 78 to 84 per minute with no sign of distress, the doctor said.

Another CT scan conducted has also shows that there is no progression of the suspicious area noted in the first CT scan, the doctor said.

All the mayor now needs is a few days rest and he will back to work, the doctor said.

Businessman Sammy Palanca said he was told his brother, the mayor, will be out of the hospital in two to three days.*CPG

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