Doc recommends hospitalization for Ampatuan patriarch

MANILA, Philippines—A Bureau of Jail Management and Penology physician has recommended that Andal Ampatuan Sr. be taken to the Makati Medical Center for treatment of a leg ailment.

However, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, the magistrate hearing the Maguindao massacre case, ordered the doctor to first explain why hospitalization was required.

In an order dated May 9, Reyes told Chief Inspector Maria Victoria E. Valeria to explain why she recommended that the Ampatuan patriarch be placed under the care of Dr. Glenn Santos of Makati Medical.

“(Valeria) is hereby directed to immediately inform the court in writing the treatment/appropriate medication she had prescribed to help relieve accused Andal Ampatuan Sr. from his medical problem and the reason,”   Reyes said.

She also told the doctor to explain “the reason why she referred said accused to Dr. Glenn Santos of the Makati Medical Center, a private hospital, for further evaluation and management.”

Valeria, chief of the BJMP Health Service Unit in Metro Manila, and another BJMP officer examined Ampatuan on May 4 and noticed a swelling on the left ankle.

Valeria’s diagnosis was osteoarthritis and recommended that Ampatuan be taken to the hospital as an “outpatient.”

Prosectors vowed Wednesday to oppose any transfer of Ampatuan, who is detained at the BJMP prison in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig, to a private hospital.

They noted that Ampatuan’s lawyers earlier claimed that he had a prostate problem that affected his right leg, not his left ankle.