Marcos Had Kidney Transplant in ‘84, Filipino Official Says

MANILA —  Deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos underwent a kidney transplant in 1984, a Health Ministry official said today.

Mario Taguiwalo, the ministry’s special assistant for hospital operations, said he was told by doctors and officials that the surgery was performed at the government Kidney Foundation hospital in suburban Quezon.

Marcos was rumored to have had a kidney transplant in November, 1984, when he disappeared from public view for weeks. He went on television in December and raised his shirt to show that he had no surgery scars.

An employee at the hospital said staff members were forced to go on leave at the time. “We were made to take a vacation at the same time, which was very unusual, so we suspected Marcos was to be brought to the hospital,” he said.