The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Tuesday allowed detained former Senator Jinggoy Estrada to undergo a medical check-up for his aching right shoulder.
The court granted Estrada’s motion that the former senator be brought to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Thursday to undergo a medical procedure after he experienced extreme pain in his right shoulder in the late afternoon of May 11. They said Estrada had been in pain since last April 2016.
The court gave Estrada at least six hours to undergo MRI and X-ray at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., or until the procedures are finished on Thursday.
The anti-graft court granted Estrada’s motion provided that he may only ben brought to the hospital and no other place not earlier than one hour before the appointment time and leave for his detention cell as soon as the medical checkup is done.
The court also directed the Philippine National Police to provide escorts and security measures for Estrada and control his use of communication and electronic gadgets.
Estrada’s lawyers also said Estrada was diagnosed to have “frozen shoulder” in November 2014, prompting the court to allow him to undergo therapy sessions at Cardinal Santos Medical Center.
Estrada was accused of pocketing P183 million in commissions from the pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Janet Napoles.
He is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Meanwhile, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the one-month suspension of Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao Mayor Datu Umbra Bayam Dilangalen for simple neglect of duty.
The Ombudsman found inconsistencies in Dilangalen’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth from 2009 to 2010.
Based on the investigation, Dilangalen failed to declare in his 2009 SALN a house in Cotabato City acquired in 2000, another house in Kabuntalan, a parcel of land in Cotabato City, two cars acquired in 2004 valued at P1million, liabilities representing loans obtained from the Government Service Insurance System and Land Bank of the Philippines, and car loans.
The Ombudsman said Dilangalen failed to declare his house in Cotabato City and an agricultural land in Kapimpilan-Kabuntalan in his 2010 SALN.
“These omissions became palpable when respondent declared the existence of the very same properties and liabilities in his SALN for the immediately following year,” Morales said.
“The respondent’s failure to pay attention to the details of his SALN had resulted in the inaccuracy of crucial information therein, making him liable for simple neglect of duty,” the decision read.
