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Court agrees to hospital transfer of hostage-taker
MANILA, Philippines – For humanitarian reasons, a Manila court yesterday ordered the immediate transfer of hostage-taker Armando “Jun” Ducat from a government hospital to the Cardinal Santos Hospital.
The 56-year-old engineer, who is facing multiple charges of illegal detention, was brought to the Ospital Ng Maynila after he complained of chest pains during his arraignment on Tuesday.
Judge Amelia Tria-Infante of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 9 granted the petition to move Ducat to the private hospital in San Juan after City Hall doctors attested to his frail condition. The court, however, said the accused should be “heavily escorted” by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Defense counsel William de los Santos said the prosecutors initially objected to the petition and only suggested that he be brought to the Philippine General Hospital, but the lawyers countered that Ducat’s life was “at stake.”
“We should not toy with life of the accused. He has not been convicted yet,” he said.
Ducat had an angioplasty two weeks before he detained 26 kids and three teachers inside a bus in Manila on March 28. De los Santos said Ducat suffered a persistent heart problem and needed to undergo a series of checkups, including an angiogram.
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