Sandigan orders Quezon City jail transfer for Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines — With assurance by doctors that there was “no imperative need” for continued hospital confinement for former speaker Martin Romualdez, the Sandiganbayan Third Division ordered yesterday his transfer to the New Quezon City Jail.

The Sandiganbayan issued the order after hearing testimonies from doctors from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on the results of an independent medical examination performed on the lawmaker over the weekend.

Within the decade, Romualdez has only a three percent chance of having a heart attack every year, the PGH doctors said, adding that his response to a stress test was normal.

Romualdez had sought continued confinement at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center following his arrest.

Against his private doctors’ advice, the Sandiganbayan ordered on Sept. 7 his transfer to PGH for an independent medical examination.

University of the Philippines-PGH director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said that based on their medical evaluation, Romualdez was deemed “clinically stable” and unlikely to suffer an emergency medical condition if removed from hospital confinement.

Legaspi told reporters he would wait first for an official order for the transfer of Romualdez before coordinating with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

“He tolerated the stress test and his response to the test was similar to a normal person,” Legaspi said.

Government doctors, Legaspi said, also ruled out unstable angina, a condition in which the heart does not receive enough blood flow and oxygen, which was among the diagnoses of doctors at Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

However, he pointed out that Romualdez continues to have chronic coronary syndrome.

The PGH doctors likewise confirmed that the former speaker indeed has a chronic artery disease and a chronic cerebrovascular disease but these do not require in-patient care.

They also confirmed that Romualdez has hypertension but which is presently under control and that while it needs continuing treatment and monitoring, the condition does not necessarily require in-patient care.

Romualdez “shall not be moved, removed, transferred and/or otherwise be released” from the city jail unless ordered by the court, Sandiganbayan Third Division chairman Associate Justice Karl Miranda said.

The arraignment of Romualdez was set for Sept. 16.

In a statement, Romualdez said he “respects” the decision of the Sandiganbayan as he vowed to face the charges against him before the “proper court.”

“That has not changed. I maintain my innocence. I will face the charges squarely, and I will refute all the accusations hurled against me,” the former speaker said.

“I thank my physicians at Cardinal Santos Medical Center and the doctors of the Philippine General Hospital for their care and professional judgment. I will continue to follow the medical advice of my doctors,” he added.

“This is a difficult moment for me and my family. But I will face the days ahead with dignity, with faith in God and with confidence in the truth,” Romualdez, first cousin of President Marcos, maintained.

Legaspi also clarified Romualdez was admitted in a big private room, not a presidential suite or a psychiatry ward.

“There’s no presidential suite at PGH. There’s just a big room for government leaders like the president and officials from UP and the hospital,” he told reporters.

“Instead of moving him to another room and hospital, we brought the big equipment inside the room,” Legaspi said. “It’s not a presidential suite. It’s just a big room.”

Citing rules from the Commission on Audit, Legaspi said the expenses for the tests would be “charged to the patient.”

“There’s no agency that will shoulder the cost unless I’m ordered by the court or by higher authority to write off the patient,” he said.

The PGH director said the private room was the only available confinement area for the lawmaker at the time the hospital received a notice from Sandiganbayan for his transfer from Cardinal Santos.

Romualdez is staying in a room at the end of a corridor on the seventh floor which can be easily secured, said Legaspi.

He added that PGH considered the former speaker’s designation to mitigate disruption to other patients.

Among the tests performed on Romualdez, PGH spokesman Jonas del Rosario said, was a dobutamine stress echocardiogram, which assesses how well the heart functions under stress.

On Sunday, President Marcos dismissed allegations by Vice President Sara Duterte that the arrest of his first cousin was part of a “drama.”

“God, you see, do you think you talk to him and see if he agrees with you? I don’t think. Of course, but this is political, right? It’s not really a comment on what’s happening. It’s not really a belief that it is, in fact, drama,” Marcos told Filipino journalists who covered his visit to India over the weekend.

“So they have to say that. So that’s what they’re saying. They’re not commenting about… the procedures of court. It’s just another attack. We get them a lot,” he said.

This was the first time Marcos commented on the arrest of his cousin. — Emmanuel Tupas, Andrew Ronquillo, Helen Flores

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