Jinggoy seeks hospital checkup

MANILA, Philippines - Detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has filed an urgent motion asking the Sandiganbayan to allow him to undergo a medical checkup at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Hospital this week.

He said he has not been examined since he underwent several therapy sessions last year for a frozen left shoulder.

Estrada, who is facing plunder charges in connection with the pork barrel scam, is asking the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division for a three-hour furlough.

His lawyers, in the four-page pleading filed Monday, added that Estrada has been experiencing increasingly unbearable pain in his left shoulder since last month.

Estrada’s condition could require surgery called arthroscopy to remove calcium deposits, his lawyers said.

The Sandiganbayan directed Ombudsman prosecutors yesterday to file its comment or opposition to the motion filed by Estrada.

Estrada, along with fellow Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. who is facing similar charges of plunder, is currently detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame in Quezon City.