Cagas rushed to hospital for lab tests

DIGOS CITY—Former Davao del Sur Gov. Douglas Cagas, who has been accused of masterminding the 2010 murder of journalist Nestor Bedolido, was rushed to the hospital on Monday morning.

Senior Insp. Peter Bongngat, warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jail here, said Cagas was brought to a hospital in Davao City for some tests.

Dr. Vicente Balazo of Gonzales-Maranan Medical Center, where Cagas was first brought, said BJMP officials had called him up to determine the real physical and mental condition of the former governor, following reports that he had not eaten any food since since Sunday afternoon.

“I saw him sitting on a chair, mumbling incoherent words, and [he] could not even recognize me and anybody else in front of him. That’s why I recommended that he be brought to the hospital,” Balazo said.

“We sent him to San Pedro Hospital in Davao City for laboratory tests and a possible MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan,” he added.

“I think he had a stroke or acute depression secondary to anxiety,” Balazo said.

Last week, Cagas spent two days in a hospital after suffering from chest pains.

Balazo last week said Cagas was “hypertensive with cardiovascular disease” and suffering from “gastro oesophageal reflux.”

Balazi is the same cardiologist who recommended the hospitalization of another Bedolido slay suspect, Mayor Vicente Fernandez of Matanao town, Davao del Sur province.

Cagas surrendered to police before a warrant was issued for his arrest after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima approved the refiling of the murder case against him, Fernandez and two other suspects for the killing of Bedolido in June 2010, which government prosecutors had earlier dismissed.

Self-confessed gunman Voltaire Mirafuentes implicated Cagas as the brains in the murder of the 56-year-old journalist and Fernandez as the planner of the murder plot.

Mirafuentes also implicated Cagas’ alleged henchmen, Bado Sanchez and Ali Ordaneza, in the killing.

Sanchez and Ordaneza remain at large. Eldie Aguirre, Inquirer Mindanao