Ampatuan kin seeks longer hospital stay

An accused in the Maguindanao massacre has asked the Quezon City court hearing the case to let him stay in a hospital longer, or until all the shrapnel from a recent bomb explosion had been removed from his body.

Anwar Ipi Ampatuan Jr. sought an extension of his confinement at the Philippine General Hospital, saying he was suffering from paralysis as a result of the metal fragments still embedded in his body.

Ampatuan, 23, is a grandson of Andal Ampatuan Sr., one of the principal accused in the election-related killing of 57 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. He is among the 196 charged in the massacre.

Anwar Jr. was arrested on March 25 at a Maguindanao hospital where he was being treated for blast injuries from a homemade bomb that exploded in the banca he and six others were on.

The banca operator was killed in the blast. His passengers, including Anwar Jr. and an alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander, were wounded.

Anwar Jr.’s father is also an accused in the Maguindanao massacre case and is under detention at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

Anwar Jr. was later flown to Manila on orders of Quezon City RTC Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, whose court is hearing the case, and placed under hospital arrest at the PGH.

In the three-page motion filed by his lawyer Paris Real on Monday morning, Ampatuan said not all the shrapnel in his body had been removed, causing his paralysis.

“Worse, Datu Ipi still has a gaping wound as big as a fist in his back as a result of the bombing incident,” the motion read.

The accused said he learned last week from a deputy warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology that he was to be transferred to the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa where the other accused are being held. Julie M. Aurelio