First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo is back in Manila and recuperating at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City after excruciating abdominal pains forced him to cut short a trip to Peru with President Arroyo and make an emergency stop over in Japan.

Mr. Arroyo's personal physicians said the first gentleman developed severe abdominal pain and episodes of vomiting while on a Philippine Air Lines flight to Peru for the APEC leaders' meeting, forcing Malacañang doctors to divert the trip to Osaka, Japan.

Dr. Juliet Cervantes said medical tests done at an Osaka hospital found no significant finding that would account for the severe pain experienced by the first gentleman except for several bouts of diarrhea.

"The impression was an acute infectious diarreha related probably to the food intake that he had prior to the flight accompanied with an acid related disease," Cervantes told reporters.

Dr. Romeo Cariño said none of the medical workups indicated that the abdominal pains were related to Mr. Arroyo's dissecting aortic aneurysm that led to an angioplasty in April 2007.

"We have to reemphasize - there was no heart attack, it's common diarrhea," Cariño said, adding that the first gentleman even walked from the lobby of St. Luke's to his hospital room.

Cervantes said the doctors advised Mrs. Arroyo to proceed to Peru without the first gentleman who needed rest.

She said Mr. Arroyo would probably stay a day or two in St. Luke's Medical Center and would need to stay away from oily and fatty foods.

Arroyo had "intense stomach pain" Friday evening on board a Philippine Air Lines plane while he, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the rest of the Philippine delegation were on their way to Peru for the APEC leaders' meeting.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Mr. Arroyo's ailment forced the chartered PAL flight to make an emergency stop over in Japan Friday night.

The first gentleman later returned to Manila reportedly on board a private plane owned by businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr.

On April 9, 2007, Mr. Arroyo underwent a successful ten-hour open heart surgery after being diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm. After the operation, he has been undergoing weekly therapy at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.