Erap rushed to hospital

Ousted President Joseph Estrada was rushed to the San Juan Medical Center (SJMC) yesterday afternoon to remove a cyst on his left eye.

Upon arriving at 5:30 p.m., Estrada was immediately escorted inside the hospital by police guards under tight security.

He was driven from Tanay, Rizal to the SJMC, unlike previous visits in which he was flown by helicopter.

Dr. Lorenzo Hocson, SJMC director and Estrada’s personal physician, said doctors had noticed the cyst when they removed excess skin from his eyelid earlier this month.

"This was the cyst that we saw but we did not remove," he said. "We were hoping that it would get smaller within a month."

Hocson said although Estrada’s condition was not a medical emergency, the cyst must be removed immediately as it might trigger an infection in his recovering eye.

Estrada is to be confined in hospital for pre-surgery testing and post-surgery observation, he added.

Former senator Rene Saguisag, Estrada’s lead counsel, asked the Sandiganbayan special division yesterday to allow his client to be moved from his place of detention in Tanay, Rizal to the SJMC for surgery and confinement.

Sandiganbayan Sheriff Ed Urieta said the special division granted the request since it is a medical emergency.

The duration of Estrada’s stay in the hospital would depend largely on the recommendation of his doctors, he added.

In his motion before the special division, Saguisag attached a letter written and signed by Dr. Amadeo Veloso Jr., Asian Eye Institute ophthalmologist.

The letter, dated Feb. 22, 2006, was addressed to Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro, chairwoman of the special division.

In his letter, Veloso, who had previously removed a cataract from Estrada’s eye, said he first noticed the cyst when he examined the former president on Nov. 30, 2001 at the Asian Eye Institute (AEI) at the Rockwell Center in Makati City.

"The conjunctival cyst was reported to have gotten larger over the years," he said.

"If that is the case, such an enlargement would result in a significant discomfort. As of recently, President Estrada has signified to us his intent to be properly reexamined within the facilities of the AEI.

"It is possible that such a reexamination will be followed by a surgical excision of the cyst that may also be performed at AEI." — Mike Frialde