Is Leviste ill or just feigning illness?

Former Batangas Gov. Jose Antonio Leviste was transferred from the Makati City Jail to the Makati Medical Center. The reason why he was transferred from a jail to a hospital is because he was said to be suffering from low blood pressure. Leviste, if you recall, was detained in jail after he admitted that he had fatally shot his long-time aide, Rafael de las Alas. He said he did so in self defense. That time, immediately after the shooting incident, he rushed himself to the same hospital, claiming he needed a medical check up for hypertension. Later, Leviste’s doctor, Reynato Kasilag, said he suffered from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

What is questionable this time is that it was the guards of the Makati City Jail that allegedly decided to rush him to the hospital after his blood pressure went down abnormally. The Department of Justice, led by Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, is not convinced that Leviste is suffering from low blood pressure. In the published reports, they don’t even mention the names of the doctor or doctors who attested that Leviste indeed had low blood pressure. Were the guards authorized to transfer him to a hospital without a court order?

We want to make it clear that if Leviste is indeed suffering from low blood pressure, he is entitled to have proper medical treatment. But Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco is right. The guards cannot decide that. Leviste has to get a court order.

Sick people have rights even when they are in jail. All we are asking is that those rights be imposed by a court order and not left to the discretion of the guards. We hope that Leviste gets proper medical care and that his case is decided with justice. He has admitted to shooting his aide. Did he do so in self-defense as he claims? Let the courts decide.