Zaldy must go back to jail

MANILA, Philippines - The court hearing the Maguindanao massacre case last night granted the motion of Maguindanao massacre suspect Zaldy Ampatuan to remain confined at the Philippine Heart Center until noon today.  

The order issued by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 stated that Ampatuan must undergo an angiogram before noon.

After that, Ampatuan should be returned to his detention cell at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The order came as vehicles of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) went to the hospital to fetch the suspect.

The BJMP returned empty-handed, failing to return the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor to Bicutan.

Ampatuan’s lawyers filed another pleading yesterday afternoon asking the court to allow him to stay in the hospital.

Solis-Reyes earlier allowed Ampatuan to undergo medical checkup at the Philippine Heart Center after complaining of high blood pressure and diabetes. He was brought to the hospital Wednesday morning.

The court also issued an order on Wednesday afternoon that held in abeyance the granting of a new request from Ampatuan’s lawyers to allow their client to spend the night at the government hospital.

Solis-Reyes instead ordered Ampatuan’s legal counsels to submit his medical abstract and a fully notarized document identifying the need for admission into the hospital.

Ampatuan, however, stayed in the hospital overnight.

Ampatuan’s lawyers yesterday morning submitted his medical abstract with a recommendation from his attending physician, Dr. Danny Kuizon, for continued confinement at the hospital.

The documents were filed at 8:45 a.m. yesterday before Solis-Reyes.

The manifestation included his medical abstract and a letter from Kuizon.

“It is respectfully prayed herein that this honorable court for the above stated reasons and humanitarian consideration duly order the hospitalization of the said accused to undergo further and more thorough medical examination to determine his heart condition,” wrote Ampatuan’s lawyer J. Ricardo Moreno.

In the abstract, Kuizon said Ampatuan’s admitting diagnosis was acute coronary syndrome.

“He is currently stable though showing signs of heart failure,” he said.

Kuizon said medication should be “started immediately” for acute coronary syndrome.

“It is my recommendation that he be confined for more observation,” he said.

If the court did not issue the order allowing Ampatuan to stay in the hospital until noon today, the BJMP would have been compelled to bring him back to his detention cell by 6 p.m. yesterday.

In a press briefing yesterday afternoon, Malacañang said the government is against placing Ampatuan under hospital arrest.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the BJMP should not have allowed Ampatuan to stay in the hospital overnight.

He said Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo would ensure that Ampatuan would be back in jail after his medical checkup. He would also be made to explain why the suspect was not promptly returned to jail.

“We wanted Mr. Zaldy Ampatuan back in detention last (Wednesday) night,” Lacierda said.

The issue on Anpatuan’s overnight stay at the Philippine Heart Center, he said, could be threshed out in court. Lawyer Harry Roque, as legal counsel for the family of the victims can file a motion to cite the BJMP in contempt. The Department of Justice could also reply as well as Ampatuan’s legal counsel Howard Calleja.

“Although they (BJMP) are under us, there is court procedure. If Harry feels strongly that they should be cited for contempt, and he has already filed a motion to cite them for contempt, then let it be so. Let them defend themselves. Let the BJMP explain their actions, and the court will render decision based on her appreciation of the various pleadings,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines that expressed displeasure over Ampatuan’s overnight stay at the hospital can also file a case.

In a statement, NUJP said: “We cannot help but suspect that this could be part of a grand scheme to let Ampatuan off the hook, in exchange for the testimony that will help feed this administration’s obsession with prosecuting former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.”

Lacierda, however, reiterated the administration would not sacrifice justice for the Maguindanao massacre case to have Arroyo convicted.  – With Aurea Calica, Edu Punay, Cecile Suerte Felipe