Sandiganbayan Orders Romualdez's Doctors to Testify on Health Condition

The Sandiganbayan Third Division has issued a subpoena ordering the doctors of former Speaker and incumbent Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez to appear in court for the September 10 hearing concerning the lawmaker's motion for hospital detention. “It (subpoena for the doctors) was sent yesterday,” Atty. Dennis Pulma, clerk of court of the anti-graft court’s Third Division, told GMA News Online on Wednesday. Pulma's confirmation came a day before the scheduled court hearing on Romualdez’s motion for temporary hospital arrest at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City. Romualdez, who is facing a P7.4-billion plunder charge, is currently confined at the said hospital due to heart and brain-related illnesses. The doctors covered by the subpoena include: Aside from the doctors, the Sandiganbayan Third Division had earlier ordered Romualdez, if his health condition permits, to appear in court on September 10 before the scheduled 10:30 a.m. hearing on his hospital arrest plea. Earlier, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano stated that the Ombudsman will oppose Romualdez’s motion for hospital arrest, arguing that his illnesses can be managed outside the hospital. “The prosecutors will strongly oppose the motion. In fact, the prosecutors will ask that not just one doctor but a team of government doctors assess whether or not the illnesses declared need confinement or can be managed outside of the hospital,” Clavano said. “If his illnesses can be managed from outside of the hospital, the prosecutors will move that he be immediately transferred to the regular detention facility as all other accused in non-bailable cases,” he added. In his motion for temporary hospital detention, Romualdez stated that such a motion “rests exclusively on documented medical necessity, remains subject to continuous custody and judicial supervision, and may be independently verified by a court-designated or government physician.” —KG, GMA News