Napoles back in Laguna cell, doctors say 'nothing urgent' in her pain complaint

(Updated 4:31 p.m.) Alleged pork barrel mastermind scam Janet Lim-Napoles was brought back to her detention cell at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on Friday after attending a court hearing and undergoing a checkup at Ospital ng Makati due to her complaint of abdominal pain.

At a press conference, Dr. Perry Peralta said they found "nothing urgent" in the condition of Napoles that would require hospital confinement.

“Ang ginawa lang po natin is to find out kung the abdominal pains are related to any condition that is urgent requiring confinement or intervention or surgery," he said.

"In-examine po natin si Mrs. Napoles, ginawan po natin ng mga laboratoryo at saka ultrasound [at] wala po kaming nakitang urgent na kailangan i-confine si Mrs. Napoles. So in effect, dini-discharge po namin si Mrs. Napoles,” he added.

He said they gave Napoles some pain reliever.

Earlier, Napoles had personally appealed to the court to allow her to be examined by her personal doctors and have an operation in a hospital of her choice to remove a tumor.

But Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 reminded Napoles that she cannot exercise her civil and political rights in full because she is a detainee.

Napoles has been accused of serious illegal detention, a non-bailable offense.

She is also facing plunder charges at the Ombudsman for allegedly masterminding a P10-billion pork barrel scam. Through her non-government organizations, Napoles is accused of funneling lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund, commonly known as pork barrel, to ghost projects.

Hospital tests

Napoles was accompanied by her husband, lawyers, and PNP representatives at the hospital.

Among the tests conducted on Napoles at the hospital were blood examination, ultrasound, and ECG.

Peralta declined to divulge the results of the tests, saying the information is governed by doctor-patient confidentiality. He added that further tests are needed.

“Pwede(ng related sa myoma) but I cannot say definitely because Ospital ng Makati does not have full records of Mrs. Napoles. Ang nakakaalam ay yung kanyang attending doctor,” he said.

Peralta did not answer what kind of medical procedures Napoles should undergo as it is for her attending physician to decide.

“Ang attending doctor niya ang may final say kung ano ang gagawing final definitive treatment for Mrs. Napoles,” he said.

Court hearing 

Napoles was brought to the hospital around noon after attending the hearing on her motion to undergo medical surgery and confinement at St. Luke's Medical Center-Global.  

The court is expected to issue its resolution on the motion next week. If granted, the surgery will most likely be conducted at the Ospital ng Makati. — RSJ/YA, GMA News