Zaldy Ampatuan still in hospital as massacre verdict nears

MANILA, Philippines — Former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan remains in the hospital weeks before the promulgation of the verdict on the 10-year-old Maguindanao massacre case.

Ampatuan is still confined at the Makati Medical Center where he was rushed last month due to his heart ailment, jail officials said in a letter to the court that is expected to release its verdict in December.

Superintendent Jhon Montero, warden of the Quezon City Jail Annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, said Ampatuan is still undergoing physical and occupational therapy in a regular hospital room.

Ampatuan is suffering from plegic or paralyzed left arm with difficulty in walking, Montero said in a Nov. 19 letter sent to Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.

Citing latest medical bulletin, the jail official said Ampatuan is also suffering from acute infarct or brain tissue damage due to lack of blood supply, hypertension, diabetes and abnormal heart rhythm.

Ampatuan was admitted to the hospital on Oct. 22 after losing consciousness and suffering from weakness on the left side of the body and slurred speech.

Earlier this year, he was allowed to undergo a medical examination at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City.

His father, Andal Ampatuan Sr., died in detention in 2015.

Zaldy and his brother, Andal Ampatuan Jr., are among those charged over the carnage.

The Ampatuans allegedly masterminded massacre of 58 people, including 32 media workers, in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.