MANILA – The military said Tuesday there was no need to raise the alert status at the V. Luna Medical Center in Quezon City after the transfer of Andal Ampatuan Sr. to the facility.
Television reports late Tuesday said Ampatuan will stay at the military hospital for two to four weeks depending on his condition. He was reportedly attended by six medical doctors.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Jose Mabanta said the hospital being a military facility is secured.
“I would suppose that aside from the good medical facilities and doctors that can treat him, the place is secured as well,” he said.
Ampatuan was rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning after a Quezon City court granted his urgent motion requesting that he be treated for herpes zoster or shingles in a hospital setting.
The urgent motion was filed by Ampatuan lawyer Noharddin Haron based on the recommendation of Dr. Jubert Benedicto of the Pulmonary Critical Care Specialist of the Philippine General Hospital.
In a television interview Tuesday, Ampatuan's counsel, Philip Pantojan, said Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 has ordered to bring the 70-year-old massacre suspect to the hospital.
Pantojan said although Ampatuan's condition is not a life threatening disease, he still needs to be brought to a hospital as complications might occur due to his age.
Ampatuan, a former governor of Maguindanao, has been detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City for allegedly masterminding the massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, in November 23, 2009 in Maguindanao province.
Since his arrest, the Ampatuan patriarch has been suffering from several illnesses, including high blood pressure.
Mabanta, meanwhile, said the military will not be in-charge in the security of the suspect but the Philippine National Police.
“At this point, the facilities that are being used are only the medical facilities, that are our only responsibility,” he said.
A private counsel for victims of the gruesome Maguindanao massacre said they were not happy over the court’s decision allowing Ampatuan Sr. to seek medical treatment.
“We are also against hospital arrest. Moreover, his sickness does not call for hospitalization,” lawyer Harry Roque told Sun.Star in a text message. (VR/Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)