Court summons Gigi Reyes’ doctor on hospital transfer

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan has summoned the doctor of Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes to appear in court Tuesday, July 15, in the wake of her hasty transfer to the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) from a Taguig hospital Friday night, July 11.

Dr Anthony Lontoc, Reyes’ attending physician at the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital, has been ordered to appear before the anti-graft court’s 3rd division at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, according to Sandiganbayan clerk of court Dennis Pulma.

The division is scheduled Tuesday to hear Reyes’ earlier motion for a hospital transfer. But this has been rendered almost moot by the decision of Taguig doctors Friday night to move her to the PHC before the court could even hold a hearing on the matter.

Lontoc’s scheduled appearance on Tuesday is thus meant not only for him to make a case for Reyes’ earlier motion for transfer but also to explain what happened Friday.

Detained on July 4 for plunder and graft charges in connection with the biggest corruption scandal in recent Philippine history, Reyes, a lawyer and former chief of staff of detained Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, complained of chest pains Friday night. Hours before that her lawyer Anacleto Diaz filed an urgent motion asking for her transfer either to the PHC or the Sta Ana Hospital.

Reyes had earlier asked the court to detain her at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, where her co-accused in the pork barrel scam are jailed. But the court rejected her plea and ordered her detained at the Taguig City jail instead.

On Wednesday evening, July 9, Reyes was transferred to the Taguig jail’s female dormitories from a jail in Quezon City. But authorities moved her to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital shortly after following her complaints of palpitations.

She skipped her scheduled arraignment on Friday morning upon doctors’ advice. By Friday night, she was moved to the PHC in Quezon City.

Her longtime boss, 90-year-old Enrile, is also detained at a hospital – the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame. – Rappler.com