Sandigan to BJMP: Take custody of Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has ordered the transfer of custody of former speaker Martin Romualdez from the police to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) as he remains confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

The former speaker was arrested on Sept. 7 while confined at the Cardinal Santos. He has asked the court for his continued confinement under the custody of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

BJMP spokesman Supt. Jayrex Joseph Bustinera said Romualdez was turned over to the bureau at around 4:15 p.m. yesterday in compliance with a commitment order issued by the Sandiganbayan Third Division.

“Rep. Romualdez will be accorded the same treatment and privileges as other persons deprived of liberty, with no VIP or special treatment,” Bustinera said.

Bustinera declined to disclose the exact number of guards they would deploy at the medical facility for security reasons.

In compliance with Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s directive, Bustinera said that they are ready to regularly release medical bulletins on Romualdez.

The doctor who admitted Romualdez to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center said his confinement was “unusual.”

During the hearing on Romualdez’s motion for continued hospital confinement, Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan told the Sandiganbayan that he was the admitting physician when the lawmaker arrived in the afternoon of Sept. 7.

Instead of going through the emergency room, Romualdez was taken straight to his hospital room.

This, Sibayan said, was because Romualdez, who complained of chest pains, was not considered an emergency case.

Sibayan said that even though he was the admitting physician, he was not able to physically examine Romualdez as they were barred from entering his hospital room.

The instruction, he said, was relayed by Romualdez’s attending physicians Dr. Rody Sy and Dr. Rosalio Torres.

“We were told we were not allowed to enter his room,” Sibayan said.

He admitted that such prohibition was unusual, upon questioning by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno.

Sibayan said he was only told to prepare Romualdez’s medical abstract, but all diagnoses were made by the lawmakers’ attending physicians.

Doctor Torres, who also took the witness stand, testified that Romualdez should remain confined at Cardinal Santos because he is at “high risk of possible heart attack.”

Torres, the team manager of Cardinal Santos, said Romualdez’s staff called him on Sept. 7 in the morning to inform him that the former speaker was complaining of chest pain.

He said he advised that Romualdez be confined at the hospital considering his history of heart-related illnesses.

Romualdez was confined only in the afternoon, about six hours after the phone call, and about an hour before the warrant for his arrest was issued.

Romualdez will remain confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center until further orders from the court.

“His (Romualdez) at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center will remain until further orders from the court,” Sandiganbayan Third Division Clerk of Court Dennis Pulma said.

The prosecution has opposed Romualdez’s motion and asked the court that he be detained in a BJMP facility.

Even if Romualdez is still confined in a hospital, the BJMP has started preparing a detention cell at the New Quezon City Jail for the former speaker.

Bustinera said that Romualdez will be put in a detention cell which can accommodate 10 persons.

Each detention cell has an area of 47 to 50 square meters, has five double deck beds, two restrooms and two ceiling fans.

“If there are concerns, we will consider, as well as security. Definitely he will be in a cell,” Bustinera said.

According to the PNP, Romualdez is medically unfit to travel, citing a certificate issued by Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

“I can confirm there is a certification from them that the patient is medically unfit to travel outside of the hospital,” PNP spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co told GMA News yesterday. –  Mark Ernest Villeza, Emmanuel Tupas

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