By Ritchie A Horario/Manila Times
Up until yesterday night, TV crew and a few reporters kept vigil in front of the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak), hoping for word about the lone patient in the room on the hospital’s seventh floor.
They all wanted to know if the patient, Janet Lim-Napoles, has undergone surgery to remove a cyst from her uterus.
A spokesman for OsMak said late last week that the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind might be scheduled for surgery yesterday if her personal doctors allowed it.
But no doctor or hospital staff would confirm if the surgery pushed through.
A physican at OsMak who wanted to be identified only as Dr Bautista told Manila Times that the medical staff was not authorised to reveal any information on Napoles’ condition.
“We cannot give any information on Napoles, we are not allowed to do so. Only our medical director is authorised to speak,” Dr Bautista said, referring to Dr Perry Ishmael Peralta, OsMak medical director.
“We do not know what is happening up there,” another physician, a Dr Bauzon, said.
The two doctors said the hospital cannot issue a medical bulletin on Napoles’ condition because Peralta is off on Sundays.
Peralta had said if Napoles was cleared for surgery, it could have been done yesterday and that they could issue a medical bulletin the following day.
But he added that Napoles’ private doctors from St Luke’s Medical Centre in Taguig City (Metro Manila) wanted to review the medical tests before going ahead with the surgery.
The St Luke’s team, which is composed of seven doctors, is led by Napoles’ attending physicians Elsie Badillo Pascua and Efren Domingo.
Security at OsMak has been tightened since Napoles was transferred to the hospital.
The security guards refused to provide information as to who visited Napoles.
Peralta has said Napoles will be paying for the operation through funds raised by relatives and friends.
Government doctors who examined Napoles found a cyst in her uterus that was causing abdominal pain and bleeding.
Napoles was transferred to OsMak from Fort Santo Domingo in Santa Rosa City, Laguna, where she is being held on serious illegal detention charges filed by her cousin, pork barrel fund scam whistleblower Benhur Luy.
Dr Santiago A del Rosario, the head of the Makati Medical Centre’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said the big question is the real state of Napoles’ health since that will dictate whether a major or minor surgery is to be performed.