Doctor bares what’s troubling Gigi Reyes

An ambulance whisked Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes from the Sandiganbayan to Camp Bagong Diwa, where she will be detained for her plunder charges over the pork barrel scam. FILE PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—The inconvenience inside jail may have been too scary for pork barrel scam suspect Atty. Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, her doctor told the Sandiganbayan on Monday.

Cardiologist Anthony Lontoc testified on the witness stand Tuesday, saying Reyes’ chest pains and panic attacks may be due to her mental health and not to a heart condition.

Lontoc of the Taguig Pateros District Hospital said Reyes was diagnosed to have mixed anxiety disorder with a tendency of depression.

Lontoc even said Reyes may also have suicidal tendencies.

When asked by Associate Justice Samuel Martires if the idea of a free woman like Reyes being detained may have made her panic, the doctor said yes.

“Would the idea of Reyes transferring from a free woman to jail contributed (to her panic attacks)?” Martires asked Lontoc.

Lontoc said: “The transferring from a free woman to a confined facility would have triggered the problem.”

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology jail female dormitory jail warden Jundelina Jagunap also told the court that Reyes suffered a fit when the jail rules were read to her.

For Lontoc, however, Reyes’ anxiety disorder is a disease that could be readily treated with maintenance medication.

Meanwhile, Reyes’ lawyer Anacleto Diaz interpolated Lontoc and claimed Reyes’ condition may pose life-threatening conditions like stroke and heart attack.

Lontoc said Reyes’ hypertension could lead to such complications.

Reyes last Wednesday was ordered detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) female dormitory in Camp Bagong Diwa after she surrendered to the court for her plunder charges.

But shortly after Reyes was transferred from Sandiganbayan jail to Bicutan, she complained of suffering an anxiety fit, forcing the BJMP to rush her to the Taguig hospital Thursday.

She was again transferred to the Philippine Heart Center a day after on Friday, this time due to chest pains.

Reyes is the co-accused of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile for plunder in the pork barrel scam.

The former Enrile aide was ordered detained in Camp Bagong Diwa. Meanwhile, Enrile was rushed to the Philippine National Police General Hospital due to his frail health shortly after he surrendered to the police.

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