Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is carried on a stretcher to an ambulance after he collapsed due to scorching heat during the Independence Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Park on Sunday, June 12, 2022. ABS-CBN News
MANILA (UPDATE) — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is "in stable condition" after fainting during the Independence Day celebration at the Rizal Park in Manila Sunday, officials said.
"My lack of rest and sleep from my recent successive international security engagements may have taken its toll on me. Late na kami nakabalik from Singapore, tapos napakainit pa sa Luneta kanina," Lorenzana said in a statement hours after he dropped on the ground in the morning.
(We returned from Singapore past midnight, and it was too hot in Luneta earlier.)
"I’m fine now. Just resting since the results of the tests conducted earlier are okay," he added in his message that he sent from a hospital.
"As the saying goes, a true soldier always gets up quickly after a fall."
In an earlier statement, Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said that Lorenzana's fainting may have been caused by fatigue due to his "hectic schedule during the last few weeks and extreme temperatures in Luneta."
Lorenzana, 73, attended the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue and met with his foreign counterparts in Singapore.
"The Secretary also traveled recently to South Korea and other parts of the Philippines, while overseeing the defense operations of the country and transition to a new administration," Andolong said.
He noted that as of writing, Lorenzana is now "conscious" and that "he is okay" and in his "usual self."
Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana is in stable condition after fainting during the 124th Independence Day celebration at the Rizal Park in Manila on Sunday morning. Department of National Defense handout photo
The defense secretary has since been advised to rest, Defense Executive Assistant Peter Paul Galvez also said.
"I’m deeply moved by your concern and well wishes. Thank you and God bless us all," Lorenzana said in his statement.
The defense chief was among the members of President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet who joined Sunday's Independence Day rites at the Rizal Park.
Sunday's ceremony was the last time Duterte attended as the country's chief executive. He is set to leave office at the end of the month.
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