Judge allows checkup for Ampatuan grandson

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City judge handling the Maguindanao massacre trial has granted the request of a member of the Ampatuan clan to undergo laboratory tests and a medical checkup yesterday and today.

During court proceedings on Wednesday, Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes allowed Anwar “Datu Ipi” Ampatuan Jr. – grandson of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. – to be brought to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

In a four-page urgent motion, lawyer Jovito Barte, representing Anwar, said his client has been experiencing difficulty in urinating and pain in his spin, causing him “sleepless nights.”

Barte attached a medical certificate from a urologist, who recommended that the suspect undergo laboratory tests prior to his scheduled medical examination today.

Anwar is suffering from “neuropathic bladder secondary to spinal cord injury” caused by an explosion that led to his arrest in 2012.

In her open court order, Solis-Reyes ordered the jail warden of the Quezon City Jail-Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig to immediately bring back Anwar to his detention facility following the tests and checkup at PGH.

Barte was also ordered to immediately submit the results of the laboratory tests and checkup.