Zaldy Ampatuan undergoing therapy after stroke — BJMP

Former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, a primary suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, is undergoing physical therapy at a private hospital after suffering a stroke last month.

Ampatuan is still at the Makati Medical Center after a week of confinement in its intensive care unit from October 22 to October 29, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) told the judge handling the multiple murder case in a November 19 letter.

He was rushed to the hospital on October 21 after showing signs of a stroke but was declared in stable condition soon after, the BJMP said at the time.

The jail bureau said Ampatuan is still confined and undergoing continuous physical and occupational therapy for his paralyzed left arm and difficulty in walking.

"Final diagnosis of aforesaid PDL (person deprived of liberty) is acute infarct, right frontotemporoparietal cortical subcortical areas, right MCA territory (NIHSS 20)," the BJMP said. He was also diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, and a heart ailment.

Ampatuan is one of the 101 defendants who saw the completion of trial on the killing of 58 people on a hill in a town in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.

He argued in court that he was in Manila at the time of the massacre and denied involvement in its planning.

Thirty-two of the victims were members of the media. The incident is considered the Philippines' worst case of election-related violence and the single deadliest attack on journalists in history.

Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, the Quezon City judge who handled the 9-year-trial, has until December 20 to render a decision. — RSJ, GMA News