Bong Revilla asks for two-week therapy, check-up at PNP Hospital

Detained Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to allow him to have therapy and a medical check-up at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) for two weeks because of the pain on his back and heels.

“Senator Revilla respectfully prays that this Honorable Court allow him to undergo further medical examination and treatment on his back and feet, including a physical therapy, at least three times a week or six sessions for two weeks at the PNP General Hospital, Camp Crame, Quezon City,” Revilla, through his legal counsels, said in a three-page motion dated May 4.

The First Division had earlier allowed Revilla to be x-rayed at the PNPGH to determine the cause of the swelling of his heels.

In his motion, Revilla said that based on the x-rays of his knees and feet, he was diagnosed with Achilles Tendonitis (the degeneration of the fibers in the Achilles tendon) on both feet. He also had Osteoarthritis and Lumbar Herniated Nucleus Pulposus (the tearing of some fibers in his lumbar spin), which caused the pain on his back and neck.

The attending doctor at the PNPGH, Senior Inspector Francisco Agudon III, M.D., had recommended that Revilla undergo six sessions of physical therapy - three sessions a week for two weeks.

The Revilla camp added that the senator has again been experiencing “severe pain at his back, causing him great discomfort and at times difficulty in sleeping and breathing”.

An earlier examinations done on the Revilla’s back at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig on October 1 and 17 last year found that the he had “lumbo-sacral radiculopathy secondary to spondylosis” or a condition in which one experiences pain in lower extremities that radiates from the lower back or lumbar spine.

A St. Luke’s Medical Center medical report dated November 29 likewise advised that Revilla undergo regular physical therapy.

“Unless proper medical attention is given to Senator Revilla, his condition may further aggravate. There is thus a need for him to undergo a more extensive medical examination and treatment as soon as possible to address his medical conditions, so as to prevent further complications,” the motion read.

The First Division had earlier ruled that Revilla must not leave his place of detention unless in cases of medical necessity and emergency.

Revilla is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center also in Camp Crame for plunder and graft charges in relation with his alleged involvement in the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.

He is accused of pocketing P224.5-million worth of kickbacks from 2006 to 2010 in exchange for funneling his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel for fake foundations allegedly owned by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains of the pork scam. — DVM, GMA News