HANOI, Vietnam – A member of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's support staff was slightly injured in a vehicular accident here last Wednesday but managed to return to work the next day.

John Devries, a video editor of the Radio-Television Malacañang (RTVM) group covering the President's two-day official visit here, was hurt after a speeding taxi ran over his left foot while he was crossing a busy street towards the Silk Path hotel.

Devries, though in pain, was immediately taken to a nearby hospital by his colleagues after his foot started to swell. The taxi driver, who was confronted by other Palace staff to prevent him from leaving, was accosted later by the police for the accident that occurred past 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Doctors found no fracture in the patient's bones based on his x-ray and merely wrapped his swollen foot with a bandage, according to RTVM Executive Director Milton Alingod.

Devries was advised by the doctors to take regularly anti-inflammatory medicines and rest his foot. From the hospital, he was later brought back to his hotel room.

“He's okay now and started to work," Alingod said in an interview a day after the accident.

Joeban Sayong of the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi, said Devries refused to use crutches even though he had difficulty walking last Wednesday afternoon. Sayong said doctors claimed Devries could recover after a week's rest.

Sayong said the vehicular accident was reported to the police but Devries agreed not to press charges against the driver.

The accident occurred on the eve of the President's arrival here to attend the 16th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit on April 8 and 9.