Gigi Reyes has suicidal tendencies - doctor

MANILA, Philippines - Lawyer Gigi Reyes, the former chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, has suicidal tendencies, according to her attending physician.

Taking the witness stand at the hearing on Tuesday at the 3rd Division of the Sandiganbayan, Dr. Anthony Lontoc of the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) said Reyes has been diagnosed with having a mixed anxiety disorder when she was rushed to the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) in Quezon City over the weekend.

Lontoc said that Reyes has a history of psychiatric problem "long, long before" she was admitted to the TPDH.

The doctor said he had recommended to the Bureau of Jai Management and Penology to make Reyes's transfer to a regular jail at Camp Bagong Diwa "gradual" as persons with anxiety disorder has a difficulty in coping with stress.

He said that there should be a psychiatrist attending to Reyes and that medical equipment and facility be available in an event of an episode which could be fatal.

Lontoc said that the anxiety attacks could be controlled and treated with medicines and a month of therapy.

"She started taking these medicines when she was at the Philippine Heart Center," Lontoc said. He said he decided to transfer Reyes to the PHC from the TPDH when she complained of persistent chest pains despite giving her medications.

Last night, members of the BJMP brought Reyes, the co-accused in the plunder case of Enrile, back to the Camp Bagong Diwa female dormitory after Lontoc found no significant heart problem during examinations.

At present, Reyes is in a makeshift isolation cell which is not properly ventilated, according to the BJMP jail warden of the female detention facility.

Dr. Jaime Claveria, a BJMP medical doctor, suspected that the reading of the house rules of the facility triggered Reyes's panic attack.

Claveria, who also took the witness stand, dismissed that the anxiety attacks were caused by howls and shouts from the male inmates of the BJMP as being pointed out by Reyes's lawyers.

In their motion to transfer detention, Reyes's legal counsels said that their client is concerned of her safety as alleged communists rebels are also detained in the same building.