Apart from timing, what else is ‘unusual’ about Romualdez’s hospital confinement?

Apparently, the condition of former House speaker Martin Romualdez was not an emergency case when he rushed himself to the hospital on September 7, the day Sandiganbayan 3rd Division issued an arrest warrant against him for plunder. Dr. Kurt Allen Sibayan, Romualdez’s admitting physician, said this in court on Thursday, September 10, during the hearing on the former speaker’s motion for hospital confinement. Rappler saw a copy of Romualdez’s medical certificate, which did not indicate the number of days the former speaker needed for recuperation. On the floor, Office of the Ombudsman Deputy Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal reiterated this point twice: Romualdez doesn’t need confinement. “There’s nothing here that says the patient requires confinement,” said Sagadal.

Romualdez is currently confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City after admitting himself at around 4 pm on Monday. He gave a list of diseases, including hypertension and heart problems. He was served the arrest warrant by the Philippine National Police on Monday, but he has yet to be transferred to a jail facility because of his condition. During the hearing, Sibayan also revealed that he prepared the abstract, but did not see nor examine Romualdez. The physician said he was told that resident doctors were not allowed to go inside the room. It was attending physician Dr. Rosalio Torres (hematologist), Romualdez’s hospital “team manager,” who told Sibayan this. “Residents are not allowed inside the room,” said Sibayan. Asked whether it was unusual for a resident doctor to be barred from a room, Sibayan answered in the affirmative. According to Sibayan, apart from Torres, two other physicians made separate diagnoses of Romualdez — cardiologist Rody Sy and neurologist Rogelio Libarres. He…