Court allows slay suspect to undergo medical exam

The court has allowed the suspect in the killing of former Biliran governor Danilo Parilla to undergo further medical examinations but the time it allowed was not enough for him to go through all the tests.

Regional Trial Court Judge Gilbert Moises allowed Eugenio Corpin to be brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center despite strong opposition from private prosecutors.

Since Corpin is deemed a “high risk detainee,” Moises ordered the jail warden to have him escorted to the hospital by at least five jail guards. Moises also ordered that Corpin be immediately brought back to the jail after an hour, the estimated time for the medical examinations.

But Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center warden Efren Nemeño said Corpin failed to undergo an ultrasound of his abdomen “due to the limitation this Honorable Court directed for the said examinations.” Corpin was only able to undergo a CBC, urinalysis, blood typing, and SGPT and amylase.

Nemeño said the doctor who attended to Corpin recommended for the inmate to undergo a follow-up examination once the results of the laboratory examinations come out.

Earlier, after a hearing in court, Corpin had complained of severe stomachache and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors then recommended that he be made to undergo further tests.

The other week, the private prosecutors had told the court that Corpin should not be brought outside the jail to undergo the tests, as the medical equipment needed to perform the tests can actually be brought to jail. 

They also contended that there is no showing that there is an “absolute and immediate need” for the medical tests to be conducted soon and alleged that Corpin “is a flight risk and the Honorable Court should not take chances with the flimsy excuses that are more fictional than factual.”

Parilla, 52, was shot early morning on September 7, 2006 when he was about to leave a commercial vessel at the pier area. The former governor, who sustained a gunshot wound to the head, was rushed to the Chong Hua Hospital but passed away shortly thereafter.

A team from the Mobile Patrol Group arrested Corpin inside the M/V Cagayan Princess shortly after the attack. Corpin is a resident of barangay San Isidro in Naval, Biliran.

Police had confirmed that Corpin used to work for the family of Naval Mayor Gerardo Espina Sr., who had defeated Parilla in a mayoralty race.

However, no enough reason was found linking the killing to politics. – Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM