Ampatuan in ICU, stricken with pneumonia

MANILA, Philippines—Andal Ampatuan Sr., patriarch of the family accused of masterminding the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, remained in the intensive care unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines  Medical Center (formerly V. Luna) on Saturday, a military spokesperson said.

AFP public affairs chief Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said Ampatuan, former governor of Maguindanao, was rushed to the hospital after vomiting blood on Friday and was admitted to the surgical ICU of the hospital’s pulmonology service.

“There was no court order for that but he was admitted because it was an emergency,” Burgos said.

The initial medical diagnosis was the 70-year-old Ampatuan had pneumonia.

Director Rosendo Dial, chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, said Ampatuan was “still weak but conscious” and was being given intravenous medication and nutrition.

“He is still in the ICU,  waiting for the results of medical tests,” Dial said.

Ampatuan was rushed to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital shortly after lunch on Friday after he complained of  high fever and vomited blood. He was transferred to the former V. Luna Medical Center later in the afternoon after the district hospital said it lacked the facilities to treat the accused.

A medical abstract from the Taguig-Pateros hospital showed that on Friday, Ampatuan  blood pressure dropped to 70/50.

A chest x-ray also showed that aside from pneumonia, Ampatuan heart was enlarged. The district hospital recommended that he be moved to an ICU in a bigger facility.

At V. Luna, Ampatuan  initially stayed at the emergency room after undergoing blood chemistry and other additional laboratory diagnostic tests.

A jail nurse has been assigned to look after him.  Dial said family members would be allowed to stay with him if they wished.

Asked how long Ampatuan could stay at the hospital in the absence of a court order, Dial said it will depend on the results of the medical examinations.

Ampatuan’s lawyer was reported to have already gotten a court order for his hospitalization.

Ampatuan, along with several other members of his family, has been detained in the Quezon City Jail Annex located at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The Ampatuans and over 90 others are on trial for their alleged roles in the massacre of 57 persons, including 31 journalists, in November 2009 at Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province.

The reported 58th victim, photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, has not been found.