Andal Sr. seeks medical help for swollen leg, foot

Complaining about his aching right leg, Andal Ampatuan Sr., prime suspect in the infamous Maguindanao massacre case, has asked a Quezon City court handling his case to allow him to see a doctor and be treated in a government hospital. In an urgent motion to Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221, Andal Sr. asked that a doctor from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) be sent to check his swollen right leg and foot. Andal Sr. said his condition maybe related to his prostate ailment. Aside from being checked up by a physician, he also requested that he be transferred immediately to any government hospital for treatment. “[Andal Sr.] respectfully moves for his immediate referral to and confinement in any government tertiary hospital as he has been suffering from sharp, continuous pain in his swollen right leg and foot that may be caused by his recurring prostate ailment," his motion read. Andal Sr, several of his sons and relatives are among 196 individuals charged with multiple murder in connection with the killing of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. The clan patriarch and his sons are currently detained at the Quezon City Jail Annex building inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. Hearings for the murder trial are currently being held just below the suspects’ prison cells. Proceedings were earlier suspended for the Holy Week and will resume on Wednesday, May 4. Apart from prominent members of the Ampatuan clan, also charged for the crime were members of the local police and supposed members of the clan's private army, most of whom remain at large to this day. Andal Sr. was arrested in late 2009 but had to be kept in a hospital in Mindanao allegedly due to his poor medical condition. Several months later he was flown to Manila and was detained in Taguig City. In July last year, he was ordered by the court to be temporarily admitted at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center along V. Luna Street in Quezon City so he could be treated of his herpes zoster. [See related: Andal Ampatuan Sr. to be well cared for at Quezon City military hospital] The disease is caused by a viral infection commonly known as shingles and is characterized by painful skin rashes. — Mark Dalan Merueñas/KBK, GMA News