DEFENSE Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana fainted while attending the 124th Independence Day ceremony on Sunday at Rizal Park, with his head and body hitting the ground.
His aides quoted Lorenzana as saying he believed exhaustion from a recent series of international engagements, coupled with Sunday’s extremely hot and humid weather, caused his collapse. They insisted that the 36th Secretary of National Defense is fine even as he remains in hospital where he was rushed for treatment.
The military held an event commemorating the country’s 124th Independence Day, with several activities including at the Kalayaan Island Group and Philippine Rise.
At the Luneta, the seat of the anniversary rites, Lorenzana was seen on video standing in line next to some Cabinet secretaries near the giant flagpole when he suddenly keeled over. A woman behind him tried to catch him, but barely broke his fall.
The defense chief was immediately wheeled into an undisclosed hospital, with several witnesses raising concerns over his conditions following his head’s thumping onto the ground.
Lorenzana, however, said he was okay, with his aides even sending photos while he was in the hospital. One of the photos showed him relaxed and seated on his hospital bed while taking his breakfast.
“I am fine now. Just resting since the results of the tests conducted earlier are okay,” Lorenzana posted in his social media page that accompanied his photo doing the thumbs-up sign.
“The fatigue from my recent successive international security engagements may have taken its toll on me. Then it was also very hot at the Luneta a while ago. But, as the saying goes, a true soldier always gets up quickly after a fall,” the defense chief said.
Department of National Defense Spokesman Arsenio Andolong said Lorenzana just arrived from Singapore early Sunday after attending the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue and meeting with his foreign counterparts.
He said the defense secretary also traveled recently to South Korea and other parts of the country “while overseeing the defense operations of the country and transition to a new administration.”
“His hectic schedule during the last few weeks and the extreme temperatures in Luneta earlier today may have resulted in his fatigue,” Andolong said.
The Luneta event where President Duterte led the flag raising and wreath laying ceremonies was just among the activities for the military, which carried out similar or other related activities across the country.
Ready for defense
THE military highlighted the commemoration with a fly-by staged by Air Force assets FA-50 fighter jets and SF-260 attack aircraft along with AgustaWestland AW109, S-70i Blackhawk and T-129 ‘ATAK’ Helicopters.
On Pagasa Island, Armed Forces Western Command commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos led soldiers and the residents of Kalayaan Municipality in hoisting the flag for the commemoration.
“This Independence Day, we render our snappiest salute to the children, men and women of Pag-asa who remained in the island despite the security and safety risks from other claimant countries and of natural disasters! Your presence in our farthest occupied territory is in itself a great display of heroism,” Carlos said.
“We render our salute to the unsung heroes from the rank and file of the Western Command, who day in and out; committedly safeguarding our nine Philippine detachments in the Kalayaan Island Group. Your quiet but noble service asserts our freedom and the rightful ownership of Philippine territory and sovereignty,” he added.
A similar activity was also conducted in the Philippine Rise by the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command under Lt. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr.
A flag-raising ceremony aboard a Philippine Navy vessel was held and, today (June 13), an “Inter-Agency Solidarity Maritime Patrol” will be carried out around the Philippine Rise.
“The Maritime Patrol over our Philippine Rise signifies our patriotic ownership over the country’s maritime area, and to optimize our maritime entitlements within our country’s sovereign territory,” Torres said.