This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 4, March 2, 2006
Beltran Rushed to PNP Hospital BY BULATLAT Anakpawis Rep.
Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, 73, suffered mild hypertension before noon today and
is presently confined at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNP GH)
inside Camp Crame compound in Quezon City. PNP GH head nurse
Maj. Geraldine Adaglao said the congressman was rushed to the emergency room at
around 11:30 a.m. after he was monitored suffering from hypertension with a
170/100 blood pressure. He was transferred to Room 1 of the PNP GH at around
12:15 p.m. In a press conference
yesterday, Beltran’s wife Rosario called for her husband’s immediate release for
health and humanitarian reasons. Beltran's physician,
Dr. Melanie Hernandez-Sionzon, said the lawmaker occasionally experiences
"recurrent dreams" and "flashbacks" of his imprisonment during Martial Law. "He has post
traumatic disorder caused by his detention during the Marcos time and that makes
his stay in jail more difficult," Sionzon said. Beltran’s family
urges the administration to at least transfer him to a hospital of their choice
for him to get proper medical attention. The congressman and
veteran labor leader was arrested early morning Feb. 25 by virtue of a warrant
in a 1985 case which his lawyers said was already dismissed. It signaled the
start of a crackdown on the opposition after Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo put
the country under a state of national emergency noon of Feb. 24. The Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) charged Beltran and five other
progressive party-list solons of rebellion for allegedly conspiring with
“military adventurists” to topple the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
The five other
congressmen have been under protective custody at the House of Representatives
in Quezon City since Feb. 27. Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Posted 4:00pm March 2, 2006