Ivler's transfer to Quezon City jail tantamount to torture - lawyers

MANILA, Philippines - Saying the commitment of Jason Ivler at the Quezon City Jail was “tantamount to torture,” the lawyers of the road rage murder suspect have formally asked a court to reverse its order on his transfer to the detention facility.

Apart from setting aside his order committing Ivler to the jail, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76 Judge Alexander Balut was also asked to order the “immediate commitment of the accused in the hospital until after he has fully recovered from his second surgery.”

The urgent motion for reconsideration filed by lawyers Joseph Sagandoy Jr. and Priscilla Marie Abante was received by the court on Tuesday.

Ivler, who is facing murder charges for allegedly killing Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. on Nov. 18 last year, was injured and arrested in a shootout with National Bureau of Investigation agents Jan. 18. After surgery and confinement at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, he was discharged last week and committed to the city jail. But his lawyers insisted in the latest motion: “The accused needs another surgery or medical procedure to remove his colostomy and restore his intestinal organ to normal.” Because of his colostomy, Ivler is defecating through a bag and through his anus. His lawyers said Ivler “has, as of yet, no control of his bowel movement, as a normal person would have in defecating through his anus.”

Proper medical care

The lawyers also said that to prepare for the surgery to remove his colostomy, Ivler needs “proper medical care and attention.” They said there was no evidence that the city jail has the adequate facility, expertise or experience to care for a patient like Ivler.

Ivler’s attending physician at QMMC, Dr. Romeo Abary, has told Balut during a court hearing before Ivler’s transfer to the city jail that the suspect was already capable of being discharged from the hospital. In another hearing, Dr. Enrico Ragaza of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, who was asked by the Department of Justice to examine the accused, also gave the same opinion.

But Ivler’s lawyers said: “The Honorable Court overlooked the testimony of Dr. Abary that the mere fact that the wound of the accused ‘merely requires regular medical care that could be done on an out-patient basis’ does not mean that the accused has fully recovered and is now physically ready to be transferred to any detention facility.”

“Dr. Abary clarified that he is recommending the discharge of the accused from the hospital on the assumption that the accused is fit and ready to be cared for ‘at home’ and not in any detention facility,” they said.