FORMER speaker Martin Romualdez may interact with the other lawmakers detained at the New Quezon City Male Dormitory where he was committed Monday night if he wants to, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Tuesday.
“Yes, if he wants to, it’s his prerogative if he will go to the mess hall of the senators. But he’s only been there for several hours; we don’t know his preference,” Remulla said.
Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada are detained in the facility for plunder.
Remulla maintained that Romualdez “is really sick.”
“I am not qualified to give a medical opinion but from what the doctors in PGH said, he is fit to be confined at BJMP, but he needs medical supervision,” he said. “So that isn’t drama. That didn’t come from us, that came from PGH.”
Romualdez was turned over to the New Quezon City Male Dormitory in Barangay Payatas Monday night upon the order of the Sandiganbayan.
He was received by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at 10:49 p.m., underwent booking procedures and was taken to the infirmary ward, where he will be staying temporarily along with three other regular persons deprived of liberty (PDL).
His confinement at the infirmary is not permanent, as he will eventually be transferred to a regular cell.
BJMP spokesman Jayrex Bustinera affirmed that the jail institution is capable of managing the lawmaker’s condition.
He does not have any personal nurse, doctors or aid staying with him, Remulla said.
Nevertheless, his personal physicians as well as his immediate family and lawyers can visit him every day except Monday.
