Transfer Ka Bel to a Hospital outside Camp Crame, Doctors Recommend to Court

While the Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to be hell-bent on keeping 73-year old  Crispin Beltran detained at a Camp Crame hospital, doctors and psychiatrists are recommending his transfer to a hospital with adequate facilities. This, they say, is the only way to significantly lessen his chances of having a possibly fatal stroke.

BY LISA C. ITO
Bulatlat 

The court battle to get Anakpawis Party-list Representative Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran out of jail is not just a quest for justice, it is now a race of time to save Ka Bel's life.

While the Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to be hell-bent on keeping Beltran detained at a Camp Crame hospital, doctors and psychiatrists are recommending his urgent transfer to a hospital of his choice with adequate facilities. This, they say, is the only way to significantly lessen his chances of having a possibly fatal stroke.

At the hearing before the Makati Regional Trial Court (MRTC) Branch 137 on April 7, Beltran's lawyers, doctors, and psychiatrists pressed for an Omnibus Motion to resolve the pending urgent Motion of Release and to allow Beltran to be transferred to a hospital with adequate facilities.

Lawyer Romeo Capulong of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) appealed that Beltran be immediately released or be allowed to avail himself of the protective custody of the House of Representatives and be transferred to a hospital with adequate facilities.

Stroke-prone

The 73-year old congressman, possibly among the oldest political detainees in the  country, has a history of ailments that make his continuing detention in Camp Crame a hazard to his health and well-being.

Beltran suffered from a mild stroke in June 2005. He was confined for a week at the Far Eastern University Hospital and was discharged with home medications. In 2003, he was confined for a week at the Philippine Heart Center for chest pains related to angina, a heart ailment.

Before MRTC Branch 137 Judge Jenny Lind Aldecoa-Delorino, Beltran's lawyers presented three medical reports from doctors and a psychiatrist who previously examined Beltran this April.

The first two documents were a Medical Report issued by cardiologist Dr. Roberto A. Raymundo of the Philippine Heart Center last April 6, and another Medical Report issued by Health Action for Human Right (HAHR) physicians Dr. Romeo F. Quijano, Reginaldo L. Pamugas, and Melani Hernandez-Sionzon also on April 6.

Beltran was confined in Room 1 of the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital since March 2 this year, for hypertension and unstable blood pressure levels.

While his blood pressure has since then stabilized, doctors agree that Beltran's first stroke last year makes him a prime target for another stroke.

"Clinically, [Beltran] appears stable cardiovascular wise. However, because of his history of a previous hypertensive bleed, he remains at high risk for developing a second stroke," Raymundo said.

"His condition is life-threatening. He suffered from cerebrovascular hypertensive bleed last June 2005. This may occur again anytime," the medical doctors from HAHR noted.

Other diseases and ailments noted in their diagnosis included  hypercholesterolemia, gouty arthritis, nutritional anemia, diabetes mellitus Type 2, and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

"Considering that he is an elderly and that he has a life-threatening illness, we strongly recommend that Cong. Beltran be immediately transferred to and confined in a hospital of his choice for further laboratory work-up and proper medical evaluation and management," they added.

Psychiatrist's findings

A psychiatric evaluation prepared by Dr. Michael P. Sionzon on April 6 strongly recommended Beltran's transfer to another hospital outside the PNP premises.

Sionzon noted Beltran's recurring nightmares during the first few days of his illegal detention.

"According to Mr. Beltran, the sight of his old cell triggered flashbacks of the torture he experienced during his previous detention [during Martial Law]. On the first few days after his arrest, he was hypervigilant and anxious. He constantly feared that he might be
tortured again and that his body might not be able to stand such abuse as when he was younger. He also feared that he might be assassinated anytime while inside his cell," Sionzon wrote.

While Sionzon noted that Beltran's illegal detention has not demoralized or caused Beltran to be depressed, it has caused him to be overly anxious about the unfinished business he left as a congressman.

"Mr. Beltran's conviction in his principles have steeled him against developing pathologic anxiety or depressive disorders which may be common in the setting he is in…His anxiety mostly comes from his apprehension that he may not be able to carry on with his work any longer when there is still much he has to do. This seems to be where his fear of not being able to withstand torture and of being assassinated comes from. These anxieties were mostly present when he was previously kept inside the maximum security facility in the CIDG compound," Sionzon wrote.

"His transfer to the PNP Hospital [after the maximum security facility] offered some relief. Although he still has some anxiety regarding his safety, he affirms that his present detention is part of the risks that are inherent in being an activist. Flashbacks of the
torture [have] abated but he still admits that fears about a possible assassination still remain," Sionzon said.

Transfer would give less anxiety

The psychiatric evaluation issued by Sionzon also recommended Beltran's transfer because this would considerably decrease Beltran's state of anxiety and recurring nightmares.

"It is further recommended that safekeeping in another facility or a transfer to another hospital would be more conducive to his health since his fears of assassination would decrease if he were outside the PNP compound," Sionzon recommended.

"Given his overall health condition of being elderly with a history of hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, a return to his cell might be hazardous. Although the anxiety that he experienced during his detention there was not pathological per se, the autonomic responses accompanying it might precipitate another cerebrovascular event,"
Sionzon wrote.

Sionzon's recommendation was affirmed by the other examining physicians.

"We also recommend his transfer to a safe and non-hostile environment to avoid the stressful condition and mental anguish that will trigger and aggravate his medical condition," the three doctors from HAHR emphasized.

DOJ wants Beltran in Crame

Despite these findings on Beltran's health and psychological disposition, the Department of Justice (DOJ) remains intent on keeping him in Camp Crame.

In the April 7 court hearing at the MRTC Branch 137, Senior State Prosecutors Emmanuel Velasco, Aileen Marie Gutierrez, and Joselita Mendoza filed an Opposition to the Omnibus Motion filed by the PILC.

The DOJ Prosecution Team argued that Beltran should remain in the custody of the Philippine National Police and be confined at the Camp Crame Hospital

"We maintain that [Beltran] should remain in Camp Crame Hospital rather than be transferred to the protective custody of the House of Representatives where there are no adequate facilities and doctors to attend to his medical problems," Velasco wrote in their Opposition to the Omnibus Motion.

Beltran's lawyers, however, are batting for a transfer to another hospital with adequate facilities.

PNP Hospital found wanting

Still to be answered by the DOJ is the issue of whether the PNP-General Hospital (GH) is indeed capable of delivering the advanced medical services and facilities needed by  Beltran.

"Aside from accused's bare allegations that Camp Crame Hosptial has no adequate facilities or doctors to attend to his medical needs, there is no other independent evidence to show that indeed said hospital is not properly equipped to attend to the serious illness of the accused," Velasco added.

The only standing assessment of the PNP-GH's capability is the one issued by the HAHR examining physicians, which assesses its' current facilities as inadequate for treatment and monitoring of Beltran's ailments.

"We have visited and inspected the facilities of the PNP General Hospital where Beltran is presently confined. We found such facilities and laboratory inadequate for the kind of ailment the patient is suffering from," the HAHR doctors said.

Meanwhile, Judge Aldecoa-Delorino has given the DOJ prosecution team until April 12 to submit their Comments on the Motion to Release.

Judge Aldecoa-Delorino also ordered the DOJ and the PNP, through the PNP General Hospital's Director of Health Services r. Supt. Federico Dama, to comment on the medical findings presented by Beltran's lawyers.

After this, the judge is expected to finally decide on whether or not to grant the Motion to Release Beltran or have him transferred to a hospital with adequate facilities. Bulatlat

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