Because being detained is hard on the knees.
Former senator Jinggoy Estrada — who’s been detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City since 2014 — has asked the Sandiganbayan to allow him to temporarily leave his detention to have his knee checked in a private hospital.
“Estrada, through his legal counsels Noel Malaya and Alexis Abastillas-Suarez, urged the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division to allow him to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and x-ray on his left knee at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City. Estrada said he has been experiencing pain in his left knee,” reports Elizabeth Marcelo in The Philippine Star.
Although Estrada didndn’t specify his preferred date for the medical tests, he pleaded that these be done “as soon as possible.” He promised “to shoulder all the expenses for his travel and security should the court grant his request.”
The report noted: “Estrada’s private doctor Jose Syquia visited him in his detention cell at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Quezon City on Dec 30, 2016. Syquia noted that the former senator was suffering from patello femoral pain syndrome, which is common among athletes and characterized by mild to severe pain around the kneecap.”
The report likewise recalled that Estrada “is on trial for plunder and graft charges in connection with the pork barrel scam.” Specifically, he’s accused of “amassing PHP183.793 million in kickbacks for allegedly allocating his Priority Development Assistance Fund from 2004 to 2012 to bogus non-government organizations linked to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the scam.”
