Two Serendra tenant still can't talk

MANILA, Philippines - Angelito San Juan, the tenant of Two Serendra unit 501 which was hit by an explosion last May 31, remains confined at the intensive care unit of the St Luke’s Medical Center at the Bonifacio Global City and may need to have skin grafting.

Raymond Fortun, lawyer of the Cayton family who owns the unit said, told reporters on Wednesday that San Juan, whom he earlier described as a family friend of the Caytons, cannot be moved out of the ICU and is still under medication. Fortun added that San Juan cannot be interviewed in present condition.

“He's still not off medication. He still cannot be removed from the ICU... Ayaw pa din gawin ng mga doctors as of today," Fortun said, adding that the doctors told them transferring San Juan from the ICU would give the patient too much stress.

The lawyer added that he is still waiting for the doctors' advise when San Juan would get better for police questioning.

"I don't know if it is a few days from now, a week, 10 days from now. It all depends on he will be able to recover sufficiently from his injuries in order to be up and about, get himself out from the hospital bed, and able to answer questions intelligently,” said Fortun.

Fortun earlier said that San Juan sustained second degree burns in 85 percent of his body and needs skin grafts.

“Sa 85 percent na nasunog, 15 percent eh third degree burns meaning that there will be a need to operate in order to make skin transfer, the remaining is second degree burns, parang naluto sa pressure cooker. As you can expect for somebody who basically, a distinct majority of his body is burned, he is subject to a  lot of infection, he is under a lot of pain. You can expect that the doctors will be very careful about this handling. right now, there was very deep concerns of the amount of oxygen he is taking but as of today, ang sabi ng doctors he is 99 percent oxygen intake. Its a significant improvement from two days ago. That means that he is breathing a lot better now. But still, very, very serious pa din ang kanyang condition,” he said.

Fortun also said that as San Juan has three tubes attached to his mouth, he is unable to speak and could only make hand gestures.

“As of now there are three tubes na nakasaksak sa bibig niya. the most he can do is hand signals. Ako personally, I have not spoken to him,” he said.

'Person of interest'

Meanwhile, Fortun said the Cayton family who is in the United States, is appealing to authorities to stop describing San Juan as a “person of interest” in the incident.

"I understand why the authorities had called Mr. San Juan as a person of interest because of the lack of information on him. But considering that the family has now come out to supply the information needed by the authorities and in fact given verifiable data on the reason why he was here, the business that he is in and his other details, the family of Mariane Cayton is appealing to the investigating authorities to already desist or to suspend any further description of Mr. San Juan as a person of interest," he said.

He added: "Mr. San Juan is a victim of this tragedy and should be considered as such unless and until there is additional information that could be obtained to the contrary."

Fortun added that with San Juan being referred to as a “person of interest,” the public may think that he is a suspect in the explosion.

“For me as layman, its one being called as a suspect, not necessarily as a suspect but close to that. For a lawyer who is very particular to terminologies, it just means that he is somebody that authorities is interested to know more about or to obtain information [from]. Sa mga malikot ang isip, automatic iyan suspect. Sa mga taong nakakaintindi, hindi 'yan suspect. Gusto lang namin makakuha ng impormasyon sa kanya,” he said.

Fortun said he is in constant communication with the Caytons. He added that Mariane Cayton, who is representing the family, will be cooperating with the authorities when she arrives in the Philippines in the next few days.

“I am in constant communication with her both on the phone and Internet. Mrs. Cayton is coming back to the Philippines in the coming days. I am not in a position to divulge the exact date as to when that will be. Not because nagtatago sila. But because they are private individuals. Takot sila sa media and they are very open about that," he said.

The lawyer said that aside from Mariane's plan to visit San Juan, she will also submit sworn statements to the police on the incident.

"She wants to visit the authorities and will be submitting a sworn statement of the incident leading to the explosion. If time permits, she will also pay a visit to the individuals who were affected by this explosion,” Fortun said.