Romualdez's condition not emergency, doctor tells court

MANILA, Philippines — The medical condition of former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez is not an emergency case, the admitting physician at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center said on Thursday. Romualdez was admitted to the said private hospital due to chest pains on Monday, on the same day that the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division ordered his arrest. When admitting physician Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan took the witness stand on Thursday in tackling Romualdez’s motion continued hospitalization, however, he testified that the lawmaker’s case is not an emergency. “If the patient, for example, is complaining of chest pain and goes to the hospital, what would you do?” Third Division Associate Justice Ronald Moreno asked Sibayan. “If it’s an emergency, they have to go to the emergency room,” Sibayan said. “In this particular case, was it an emergency case?” Moreno asked again, to which Sibayan replied in the negative. “It was not, okay,” Moreno emphasized. Instead, Romualdez was admitted to a private room, his physician Dr. Rosalio Torres said in his testimony. Sibayan also said that he was barred from entering the room by Torres and Dr. Rody Sy, Romualez’s cardiologist of Romualdez. Romualdez was ordered arrested but remains hospitalized due to his condition. The former speaker has filed a pending Urgent Motion ad Cautelam for Continued Hospital Confinement in the said hospital. In his motion filed on Monday, Romualdez said he is suffering from Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, primary hypothyroidism and other illnesses. The Sandiganbayan Third Division issued an arrest warrant against Romualdez, former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and two others hours after the Office of the Ombudsman filed the information containing the formal charges against the accused. According to the information containing the formal charges filed by prosecutors before the anti-graft court, Romualdez and Co were charged with “repeatedly receiving, directly or indirectly, on at least fifteen (15) occasions, commissions, shares, percentages, kickbacks, ‘commitments’ and/or other pecuniary benefits” worth at least P7.44 billion. The amount allegedly came from contractors, persons and entities with interests in flood control, infrastructure and/or other government projects funded under the General Appropriations Acts for fiscal years 2022 to 2025, according to the information. /gsg