Judge OKs Zaldy's request for medical checkup at Heart Center

UPDATED 1:00 p.m. - T The court approved the request of murder suspect Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan to have himself checked up at the government's Philippine Heart Center (PHC) because of his diabetes and coronary diseases. Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 approved Zaldy's request to be brought to the PHC in Quezon City after a private hospital refused him for security reasons. Solis-Reyes' order was made on Tuesday but was only served to the concerned parties on Wednesday. The judge earlier arranged for Zaldy to be checked up by a private hospital last Saturday but the hospital declined to admit him, citing security risks. Ready to accommodate Zaldy Meanwhile, the PHC in Quezon City said it is ready to accommodate Zaldy. In a report of radio dzBB's Allan Gatus, PHC head Dr. Manuel Chua Chiaco said they are only waiting for a copy of the court order. The report quoted Chiaco as saying they will wait for Ampatuan to be brought there from the Metro Manila District Jail in southern Metro Manila. The report added the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology expects to bring Zaldy to the PHC within the day. One of 197 suspects Zaldy is one of the suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case. He has yet to be arraigned in the case but his brother Andal Ampatuan Jr. and their father and clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr have both pleaded not guilty to the charges. The three Ampatuans are among the 197 people accused of multiple murder for the Maguindanao massacre on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province in Mindanao. The 57 people who were killed on that day were part of the convoy of the Ampatuan family's political rival. Those killed included 32 journalists who were with the convoy. A 58th victim is still missing. Diabetes and heart diseases Zaldy, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was earlier found to be suffering from diabetes and coronary diseases, and was recommended to be brought in a "hospital setting." Among the tests that Chief Inspector Agnes Aglipay, head of the Health Service Unit of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region, recommended Zaldy to undergo were:

12-lead ECG, two-dimensional echocardiography;

24-hour Holter monitoring, carotid duplex scan;

peripheral arterial and venous duplex scan;

endothelial function test; complete blood chemistry which includes high sensitivity C-reactive protein and myocardial perfusion imaging. Right move Meanwhile, a private prosecutor in the Maguindanao massacre said it was the right move for the private hospital to refuse to admit Zaldy. Lawyer Nena Santos, legal counsel for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, said the suspended ARMM governor has no place in a private hospital because of the gravity of charges he is facing. "He is a security nighmare," Santos told GMA News Online, reacting to a hospital's move not to admit Zaldy due to "security risks" posed by his coming out with exposes on the massacre and alleged poll fraud in 2007. "Private hospitals should not be an assylum of detained accused of high profile cases, especially of a flight risk patient," Santos added. The Quezon City court hearing the massacre case earlier "partially granted" Zaldy's request to undergo a medical examination outside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City where he is detained along with some of his 90 co-accused. The court did allow Zaldy's confinement butonly approved of a day-long check up as an outpatient. Santos reiterated the prosecution's doubts that Zaldy was in poor health condition due to his diabetes and heart problems. "Zaldy appears to be healthy in a TV interview and can stage an escape in their facility," Santos said. In a surprising move several weeks ago, Zaldy appeared in several TV interviews conducted inside Cell Number 6 in Camp Bagong Diwa to express his willingness to tell all in the massacre and other poll irregularities in ARMM in 2007. - VVP, GMA News