Ampatuan wrangles ‘get out of jail’ pass from court

MANILA, Philippines—Suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan was allowed on Monday by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court branch 22, to undergo a medical check up at St. Lukes Global Center Hospital in Taguig City.

In a two page order dated July 15, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, of the QCRTC branch 22, partially granted the motion filed by Zaldy Ampatuan to get a medical check up outside the detention facility where he is incarcerated in Bicutan, Taguig City.

Ampatuan, together with other suspects in the Maguindanao massacre, is detained at the Quezon City Jail Annex inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan.

But Ampatuan will have to return to Bicutan immediately after his furlough. The court order explicitly stated that he would only be admitted as an outpatient.

The Ampatuan camp sought the court’s permission for a medical exam for Ampatuan based on his history of high blood pressure and diabetes.