Palace orders probe into Villarosa's reported ‘disappearance’

Malacañang on Wednesday ordered the Justice department and the Bureau of Corrections to get to the bottom of a report that jailed former Mindoro Occidental Rep. Jose Villarosa went missing when he was supposed to be confined in a hospital and undergoing treatment. Radio dzEC reported that Cabinet secretary Ricardo Saludo said the Palace also ordered the Justice department to make sure Villarosa is brought back to the national penitentiary once his medical condition improves. Villarosa, convicted for murder in 1997, was suffering from high blood pressure and was rushed to the hospital. Saludo also said the Palace ordered the DOJ to see if there were lapses in custodial measures, particularly in Villarosa's case. Villarosa's wife, Deputy House Speaker Amelita Villarosa - a political ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo- had already belied a newspaper report that her husband "went missing", saying the former congressman never left the Makati Medical Center where he is confined and will not be going anywhere as he had just had a cancerous left lung removed. - GMANews.TV