Andal Sr. suffering from nausea, hypertension — warden

Should the Maguindanao massacre hearing pushed through Wednesday, prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Sr. would have been a no-show due to health reasons. In a letter dated August 3 submitted to Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, Chief Inspector Edgar Camus, warden at the Quezon City Jail Annex inside Camp Bagong Diwa, informed her about the Ampatuan patriarch’s health condition. Camus said nurses from the Camp Bagong Diwa infirmary who conducted a checkup on Andal Sr. Wednesday morning found him to be suffering from "dizziness, nausea, and hypertension." His blood pressure was also measured at 140/90. "Oral medication was offered to Andal Sr. but he refused to take it for the reason that he was observing fasting," Camus said in his letter. The month-long feast of Ramadan for Muslims kicked off last Monday. Wednesday's hearing was suspended because the court interpreter was unavailable. A prosecution witness in the case who was supposed to testify on Wednesday only speaks and understands Maguindanaoan. In May, Andal Sr. underwent a medical checkup due to a swollen leg and foot, allegedly caused by his prostate ailment. Andal Sr. and 196 others, including his sons Andal Jr., Zaldy, and Sajid, as well as a number of local policemen and private armed men in Maguindanao, are facing 57 counts of murder for the November 23, 2009 carnage that left 57 people dead. — Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMA News