Ampatuan Sr. wants to transfer to Philippine Heart Center

Andal Ampatuan Sr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Sr. has asked a Quezon City court to have him transferred to the Philippine Heart Center as the military hospital where he is now confined is ill-equipped to treat his condition.

The 70-year-old Andal Sr., who is afflicted with pneumonia and hooked up to a respirator, cited his right to adequate medical care in asking to be confined at the PHC.

This was detailed in a second urgent motion dated March 12 filed by his lawyers, Philip Sigfrid Fortun and Precious Angela Lledo.

The defense also asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to allow another doctor to examine the elderly accused for a second opinion of his state of health.

The court is set to hear the new appeal during Wednesday’s hearing on the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

Andal Sr. is among the 196 accused in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre which left 57 people, including several women, media workers and lawyers dead.

The former Maguindanao governor has been confined at the AFP Medical Center V. Luna General Hospital’s (AFPMC) intensive care unit since last Friday after he vomited blood while in detention at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

Andal Sr. was first brought to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital for treatment, after which he was transferred to the military hospital.

But with complications from pneumonia, the defense said the PHC may treat the accused better as it is a more specialized institution.

The lawyers added that Andal Sr.’s attending physicians have certified that the accused’s medical condition requires continued hospital confinement.

The motion noted that the military hospital and the accused’s family are arranging for a possible transfer to the PHC “for a more prompt and specialized treatment of his illness.”

Meanwhile, doctors at the AFPMC have complied with a court order to submit a medical bulletin on Andal Sr.’s condition.

The bulletin said Andal Sr. was suffering from “ARF Type 1 secondary to noncardiogenic pulmonary edema; pneumonia, community acquired, high risk; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); T/C chronic alcoholic liver disease.”

Originally posted: 3:50 pm | Tuesday, March 13th, 2012