Gigi Reyes seeks hospital transfer

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – Lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes wants to be transferred to a tertiary hospital, upon the recommendation of a doctor from the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital (TPDH).

Specifically, she wanted to be confined either at the Philippine Heart Center or the Sta Ana Hospital where her attending physicians are connected with.

Reyes’ lawyer Anacleto Diaz filed an urgent motion asking for the transfer right before the closing of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan docket Friday, July 11. A messenger submitted the motion to the court.

Her attending doctor at the TPDH, where she is presently confined, said she was suffering from hypertensive urgency and neurocirculatory asthenia.

TPDH’s Dr Anthony Lontoc said Reyes is not fit to travel and added that she has to be transferred to a hospital capable of evaluating her cardiac condition and neurologic status.

Earlier, Reyes was not able to attend her scheduled hearing before anti-graft court Sandiganbayan on Friday, July 11, after doctors did not allow her to push through with the travel from Taguig to Quezon City.

Appearing before the Sandiganbayan 3rd division justices, Diaz said that Reyes’ condition prevented her from showing up in court. Diaz provided the court a copy of Lontoc’s clinical abstract.

Gigi’s ordeal

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) National Capital Region (NCR) spokesman Inspector Aris Villaester said Reyes was still “unstable” based on her doctors’ assessment. (READ: ‘Unstable’ Gigi Reyes skips arraignment)

Villaester said that as of Friday morning, Reyes was still hooked up to an intravenous drip and was always seen asleep. 

Diaz earlier told reporters he himself witnessed Reyes’ ordeal, as she suffered from panic attacks at 2 am on July 9. He said he, his son, and his associate were with Reyes when she was brought to the TPDH from the BJMP detention facility in Camp Bicutan. He described Reyes’ condition as pitiful, adding that she was vomiting and that her face was contorted.

Reyes also asked the court that she be confined at the TPDH while the court resolves her motion for a hospital transfer.

Reyes is Senator Juan Ponce Enrile’s former chief of staff. They are accused of knowingly allowing Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to finance bogus projects of dubious non-governmental organizations linked to Janet Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the PDAF scam.

PNP custodial center

Reyes however still wants to be detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center instead of the BJMP facility in Bicutan. The other accused in the PDAF scam who surrendered to authorities are currently being held at the custodial center in Camp Crame.

In a supplemental document to her motion for reconsideration, Reyes argued that the Bicutan facility is where “violent crime offenders and hardened criminals” are committed. Reyes cited members of the New People’s Army, the Moro National Liberation Font, the Abu Sayyaf, and other terrorist groups, as among these “criminals.”

The memorandum of additional facts and arguments was filed also on Friday before the closing of the Sandiganbayan docket. – Rappler.com