Ampatuan grandson returned to jail

MANILA, Philippines - A member of the Ampatuan clan has been discharged from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and returned to jail despite a motion pending before a Quezon City court to extend his hospital confinement.

Quezon City Jail-Annex officer-in-charge Senior Inspector John Conrad Basilio reported to Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 that Datu Anwar “Ipi” Ampatuan Jr. was brought back to the detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig on the night of April 23.

Anwar is a grandson of Andal Ampatuan Sr. The two men are among the 196 accused of multiple murder in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.

In his letter dated April 24, Basilio said Anwar is confined at the jail’s infirmary, where he will undergo physical therapy.

Anwar’s attending physician said he is paralyzed from the waist down. Anwar earlier asked the court to extend his hospital confinement until he had fully recovered from the injuries he sustained in a bombing last month.

Court records showed that the hearing on the motion of the accused was set on Monday.