Lawmaker’s son doubts stem cell caused father’s death

MANILA, Philippines - The son of the late Bohol Rep. Erico Aumentado yesterday denied that stem cell therapy was the cause of his father’s death in December last year.

Aris Aumentado, who replaced his father as representative of the congressional district in the last May elections, said his father died of pneumonia.

Aumentado said his father had weak lungs and the family was planning to bring him back to Germany after the elections for another stem cell treatment.

“Unfortunately, he did not make it on time so the stem cell treatment had nothing to do with it,” Aumentado said in Filipino.

The late lawmaker underwent the procedure in Germany in September 2012 and died on Christmas Day.

Aumentado said after the procedure, his father felt strong and was able to walk without a cane.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he knew that Aumentado and the late Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo took the same treatment and felt better after the procedure.

“If anything at all, perhaps they were not the best candidates for stem cell. If you will recall, both of them were feeling good when they came back,” Belmonte told reporters.

He said the therapy might have given the late lawmakers a false sense of hope and well-being, as he noted that both started to campaign after undergoing the procedure.

“At the end of the day, that must have come from the strenuousness of the campaign, or their bodies are not up to it although they had a sense of well-being arising from stem cell,” Belmonte said. – With Sheila Crisostomo