Judge summons Ivler's attending physician

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City regional trial court judge summoned the attending physician of murder suspect Jason Ivler after the doctor said he was leaving it up to the court to decide on whether the murder suspect should already be transferred to a detention facility.

Judge Alexander Balut said during a hearing yesterday that Dr. Romeo Abary of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) will be required to take the witness stand on March 30.

According to Balut, Abary will be “of great help” in resolving the prosecution’s motion for Ivler to be transferred from his hospital room to the detention facility of the National Bureau of Investigation.

In an earlier letter to Ivler’s lawyers, Abary said the hospital “will readily abide” if the court orders QMMC to release Ivler. This was in response to a letter from Ivler’s lawyers who told Abary that “any measure that would threaten the health and safety of the accused and impede his full recovery may render you vulnerable to criminal and civil liability.”

During yesterday’s hearing, Dr. Enrico Ragaza of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute took the witness stand and maintained his earlier medical opinion that Ivler’s wounds could be attended to even without his continued stay at the hospital.

“From the medical standpoint, He (Ivler) is as normal as everybody else,” Ragaza said, noting that the suspect was already eating and defecating.

Ragaza was requested by the Department of Justice to examine Ivler and render an expert opinion on the suspect’s medical condition. He said that when he examined Ivler, he noted that “the wound healing is very good.”

Ivler’s lawyer, Alexis Medina, protested the way the examination was done, saying the defense counsels and Ivler’s family were not notified before it was conducted.

“We object to the presentation of this opinion,” Medina said, saying the examination done by Ragaza was just “to advance the interest of the prosecution.”

But according to Ragaza, it was Ivler who gave him permission before he did the examination. “He (Ivler) didn’t object to my examination,” he said.

During yesterday’s hearing, the defense also expressed its intention to present its own medical doctor to render an opinion on Ivler’s condition.

Ivler — who is facing murder charges for allegedly killing Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. during a road rage incident on Nov. 18, 2009 — was injured after he shot it out with NBI agents who arrested him on Jan. 18. He underwent surgeries and has since been confined at QMMC.                  – Reinir Padua