MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - Business tycoon and political figure Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. has been hospitalized again, sparking rumors that he is gravely ill.

This was the third time that Cojuangco was brought to hospital since undergoing a heart procedure in November last year.

But his attending physician, Dr. Nick Cruz, made it clear that the condition of the 74-year-old chair of San Miguel Corp. is already getting better.

"His heart is okay. There were just complications that's why he's been in and out of the hospital," Cruz said.

Earlier, speculations that Cojuangco was having serious health problems surfaced because of his recent absence from the political and business limelight.

Cojuangco's son, Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, dismissed the speculations, saying his father still had a full work schedule.

In a statement sent to ABS-CBN News late Wednesday, Cojuangco said: "All procedures done on my Dad in the US are completely successful. The medicine prescribed him there does not agree with his stomach as it turns out. This has led to apprehensions about the condition of his stomach, leading to more tests being done."

"In hindsight, if he had done a complete executive check-up, he would not have had to go back and forth to the hospital," he added. "Bottomline: My Dad is fine and well."

A crony of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Danding Cojuangco is known as the country's top political kingmaker.

He is chairman emeritus of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), the party he founded in 1992 that served as his vehicle to further his aspirations in the presidential election that year.

Cojuangco's nephews, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, are vying for the country's top public position this year. - Report from Ricky Carandang and RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News