MANILA, Philippines鈥擳he Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Wednesday washed its hands of any complicity in the death of the newborn baby of political prisoner Andrea Rosal, daughter of the late communist leader Gregorio 鈥淜a Roger鈥 Rosal.
鈥淭he BJMP is saddened (by) the unfortunate news (of) baby Diona鈥檚 death despite the medical intervention given to Andrea Rosal since Day 1 of her confinement,鈥 BJMP spokesman Roy Valenzuela said in a statement.
鈥淥ur hearts (go) out for Andrea and to the bereaved family for (their) loss,鈥 he added.
Proper attention
Valenzuela claimed Rosal received proper medical attention since she was brought to her detention cell at Camp Bagong Diwa on April 13.
He said Rosal was visited at least four times by a doctor and underwent medical and prenatal examination before she gave birth on May 16.
The jail official said Rosal was supposed to undergo prenatal checkup at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on May 20, but was taken to the government hospital four days earlier after she experienced contractions.
Valenzuela said the BJMP even assigned three jail nurses to closely monitor Rosal鈥檚 condition.
He said the warden of the Taguig City Jail Female Dormitory asked the court to let Rosal undergo prenatal checkup at Taguig-Pateros District Hospital as recommended by the BJMP doctor.
鈥淯nfortunately, the court ruled that the (obstetrician-gynecologist) doctor of the hospital should be the one to visit the accused in detention,鈥 he said, adding: 鈥淎ccordingly, efforts were exerted by the jail authorities to tap the services of a doctor from the hospital but to no avail.鈥
Bishops鈥 appeal
He also maintained that Rosal鈥檚 attending doctor ordered her discharge from the PGH on May 16 because she was not yet due for delivery and there were no rooms available at the PGH.
As this developed, an official of the Catholic Bishops鈥 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday appealed to the government to allow Rosal to attend the burial of her baby in Batangas on Thursday.
Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said it was enough that Rosal was deprived of her basic human and maternal right to access medical care during her pregnancy.鈥With a report by Jocelyn R. Uy