Napoles free to leave Makati hospital anytime on promissory note

Janet Napoles INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles can leave the hospital anytime she wants, the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) management has told the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The hospital management has written a letter to PNP Director General Alan Purisima in reference to an Inquirer.net story quoting an unidentified police official who said that OsMak had put out an antedated release order for Napoles “to escape blame for Napoles’ continued stay at the public hospital.”

“OsMak officials were trying to set us up and make it appear that we are not doing our job to immediately transport Napoles back to her detention facility,” the unnamed source had said.

OsMak said the discharge order was issued May 6, written on the patient’s chart, but this was not a release order or a discharge clearance.

“Once a discharge order is issued, the patient must have his/her release processed through the hospital’s finance unit, the entity that issues a discharge clearance. Apparently, Mrs. Napoles did not comply with the release procedure on the basis of a motion she filed in court requesting for an extension of her hospital stay. In effect, no release order has been issued,” OsMak director Perry Peralta said.

Napoles, who was originally detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, for serious illegal detention, has been confined in OsMak since March 31 and after a surgery to remove a cyst from her uterus on April 22.

She remains in the hospital four weeks after her surgery, with the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 still hearing a motion filed by her camp to extend her stay for three more months.

“Be that as it may, the Ospital ng Makati would like to reiterate that Janet Lim-Napoles could leave the hospital anytime from the time she was ordered discharged, and this has been relayed to the PNP detail assigned to the patient. While Mrs. Napoles opted not to have her release processed, she can still be pulled out anytime (if needed or required) by simply executing a promissory note. The matter of her continued stay at OsMak is up to the courts and not the hospital management,” Peralta said.

Napoles has yet to settle her hospital bills amounting to P105,000.

“We would like to believe that this is simply a miscommunication among our people, and we hope that this letter would shed light on the matter,” Peralta added.

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