Jinggoy needs longer hospital stay, doctors say

Former San Juan Mayor Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada may find himself extending his hospital stay after doctors discovered that he is suffering from heart ailments.

Doctors at the Makati Medical Center (MMC) yesterday urged the Sandiganbayan to allow Jinggoy to extend his stay in hospital while he undergoes further treatment.

Jinggoy, along with his father, deposed President Joseph Estrada, has been in hospital for several months now undergoing medical examination. They are facing several charges of plunder, a crime punishable by death.

In a three-page medical report submitted to the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, cardiologist Roberto Anacleto said the young Estrada has high levels of cholesterol and is suffering from hypertension.

He noted that the former mayor performed badly in a 10-minute exercise test and is still exposed to further health risks due to his heavy smoking and being overweight.

"Because of these, I am requesting that he extend his stay (at the hospital)," Anacleto said.

The Sandiganbayan granted Jinggoy’s request to be transferred to the MMC from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center where his father is staying.

His doctors recommended that he be subjected to sophisticated heart testing that only the center is capable of doing.

The anti-graft court is set to meet today to decide on another petition by the ousted president and his son to be allowed to go home to prepare for their trial. It was not clear whether it would also decide on the recommendation of Jinggoy’s doctors.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman is amenable to the idea of allowing former Supreme Court justice and Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas to serve as the Estradas’ top lawyer in their multi-billion peso plunder case.

However, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto said the retired justice should stop receiving monthly pensions from the government.

"That’s fine with us as long as he waives his pension," he said. "We don’t want to appear that we’re afraid of him."

The 72-year-old Cuevas, a known friend of the deposed president, was removed by Estrada himself as justice secretary in February last year. But he said lately that he is willing to forego his P53,800 monthly pension if he is allowed to represent Estrada in what is billed as the biggest trial in the country’s history.

Under the law, Cuevas, as a retired justice, is not allowed to represent a government official in a criminal case. However, he argued that Estrada is no longer president, and so is not covered by the prohibition.– With Delon Porcalla