Ampatuan Sr. wants medical attention from another hospital

The Maguindanao Massacre crime scene (Photo by Dann Pantoja)

MANILA — Former Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. is now asking the court to allow him to seek medical attention from another hospital.

Ampatuan Sr., a patriarch of the clan involved in the Maguindanao massacre, has been undergoing tests at the Philippine General Hospital for his liver disease.

He was earlier allowed by the court to undergo the said tests after he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis by the medical officer of the Quezon City Jail Annex in Taguig City.

He underwent an abdominal ultrasound and CT scan at the PGH on May 25.

According to his counsel in a an urgent motion filed in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, he was “denied admission” in the said hospital because there was “no available internist and gastroenterologist.”

Hence, Ampatuan’s counsel filed a motion to have him treated at other hospitals. Among those identified in the list of alternative hospitals are the Philippine Heart Center and the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Hospital.

The court, however, noted during the hearing on Tuesday that there was still no basis for hospital admission.