Corona taken to Medical City

Senate personnel escort Chief Justice Renato Corona as he returns to the Senate session hall in a wheelchair. Corona was taken by his family to the Medical City hospital in Pasig City after his testimony at his impeachment trial on Tuesday. (photo by Bernard Testa, InterAksyon.com)

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

(UPDATE 2 - 9:57 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona was brought to the Medical City hospital in Pasig City after he testified at the Senate impeachment hearing on Tuesday, defense spokeswoman Karen Jimeno said.

She said Corona was brought to the hospital by his relatives.

However, Jimeno could not tell whether the impeached chief justice would be confined or was just undergoing a checkup.

According to his defense lawyers and Dr. Constantino Castillo, his son-in-law, Corona, a diabetic, was suffering from hypoglycemia during his testimony and asked to be excused because he did not want to faint in the Senate session hall. 

"I can't give an accurate information on this because I'm not a physician … They went there (hospital) after the hearing. We will inform the public as soon as we find out, " Jimeno said Tuesday night in an interview with ANC. 

She said it was "unfair" to say that Corona was using this as an excuse to avoid returning to the impeachment court.

"It's unfair to make that analogy. As you can see (lead defense lawyer, retired) Justice Cuevas was already ready to conduct a direct exam early today. Doctors also confirmed that his blood sugar was low. He's not trying to flee," JImeno said in a separate phone interview.

"How can he evade when this is proof that he wants to get better?" she added.

Nevertheless, defense lawyers said they could still not guarantee Corona's appearance on May 23 despite a warning from Enrile that he would strike out Corona's testimony and make a ruling if he would not appear on Wednesday. 

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