As early as the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, November 15, close friends and associates had been posting on social media that rock legend Joey “Pepe” Smith had just had a 3rd stroke and had to be rushed to the emergency room of the Metro Antipolo Medical Center. In a phone interview with Rappler, Pepe’s manager Mark de Leon said that they had just come from Romeo’s restaurant in the evening of November 14 and were driving home to Lower Antipolo (where they live next to each other) when he noticed changes in Pepe’s appearance and speech. “He was bent over, his jaw was drooping, and he was drooling,” De Leon said. De Leon immediately rushed Pepe to the Metro Antipolo ER on Marcos Highway. It was a good thing that he was able to do so quickly, as Pepe is reportedly faring better than he did during the first stroke which happened on April 2015 and left the musician with a minor speech impediment. The second stroke took place July last year. “He has difficulty swallow...