Massacre suspect allowed to seek medical treatment

A Quezon City court has granted the request of an accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case for a hospital furlough to correct a medical procedure done on him in 2006.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes granted the plea of former Datu Unsay Councilor Abedin Alamada to be allowed to seek medical treatment at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for pain caused by complications from the surgery.

In a two-page order on July 8, Reyes said that after examining Alamada, roving Bureau of Jail Management and Penology doctor Senior Insp. Jaime Claveria Jr. recommended his referral  to the urology department of the nearest government hospital for the removal of a “double J stent.”

A double J stent is a soft tube placed in the ureter to prevent or relieve blockage during surgery. The ureter channels urine from the kidneys to the bladder.

Alamada had said in his urgent motion filed on July 1 that he had his right kidney surgically removed in 2006 and a tube was attached to his ureter which caused him severe pain when it moved.

He asked the court to allow his temporary release from detention at the Quezon City Jail annex at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, to have the tube removed at the PGH.

The judge directed the jail’s OIC to coordinate with the PGH and transport Alamada to the hospital and return him “without delay” upon completion of the treatment.

Alamada is among 195 persons charged with multiple murder in the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre of 58 persons, 32 of them media workers, in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. The top accused are members of the Ampatuan clan. Alamada had headed the civilian volunteer organization (CVO) in the town.

Earlier, another detained accused, Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, a son-in-law of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., had asked the court to allow him to seek medical attention at the PGH due to “frequent fatigue, weakness and dizziness.”

Without resolving Ampatuan’s request, Judge Reyes merely noted a July 4 letter informing the court that Claveria had evaluated Ampatuan’s medical test results and found them to be “within normal limits.” She noted the jail doctor’s recommendation that Ampatuan lose weight.