MANILA, Philippines – A lawyer for relatives of the Maguindanao massacre victims on Thursday asked a Quezon City court to cite in contempt Zaldy Ampatuan, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, for staying in a government hospital although the court had allowed him to be examined by doctors as an out-patient only.
Citing the seven-page complaint filed by Editha Tiamzon, wife of UNTVs Daniel Tiamzon, one of 32 journalists killed in the massacre in Maguindanao, Harry Roque said that aside from Zaldy Ampatuan, Senior Inspector Bernardino Edgar Camus, officer-in-charge of Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig should also be cited for indirect contempt.
Still quoting Tiamzon, Roque said the suspended governor should have returned to Camp Bagong Diwa after Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City regional trial court Branch 221 failed to rule on his bid for continued stay at the hospital.
“That a high-risk detainee such as the accused will be confined for an indefinite period of time at an inadequately secured public hospital like the Philippine Heart Center can only be countenanced by the court at the risk of public safety,” said Roque.
Reyes ordered the Ampatuan camp to submit a clinical abstract and a duly notarized certification stating his need for immediate medical treatment and confinement.
“In the meantime, appropriate action on the accused’s request is hereby held in abeyance pending compliance therewith,” said Reyes.
However, instead of returning to Bicutan, Zaldy Ampatuan had himself admitted at the hospital.
“Instead of complying with the Court’s latest, Order, accused had himself admitted to the Philippine Heart Center, with the knowledge and acquiescence of J/SR Insp Bernardino Edgar T. Camus, who was responsible for the former’s security.”
“Indeed, Accused contemptuously disregarded the Honorable Court’s explicit order that he only be an outpatient at the Philippine Heart Center, pending submission of required documents. This creeping and cynical violation of the Honorable Court’s kind exercise of discretion must not be allowed to fester,” the petition said.
Ampatuan was taken to the Philippine Heart Center Tuesday after the QCRTC granted his request to undergo medical check-up outside Camp Bagong Diwa for high blood pressure and diabetes. The court, however, said he should be treated as an outpatient.
The suspended governor is one of the principal accused in the Maguindanao massacre case.