After spending three weeks in a private hospital, former Dapitan City mayor Dominador Jalosjos has opted to stay behind bars to serve his sentence in a 1969 highway robbery case.
Jalosjos was taken to the Cebu City Jail in barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City last Friday.
His lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna said Jalosjos was discharged from the Cebu Doctors’ Hospital with the approval of his doctors while waiting for the go-signal for his heart surgery.
“The wound on his chest has not healed yet. So the doctors could not, at this point, perform heart surgery on my client. They said he (Jalosjos) can go home while waiting for the wound to heal,” Dela Cerna said in an interview Friday.
But since Jalosjos is under arrest, he could not return home.
Dela Cerna said they filed a pleading before the court for Jalosjos to serve his sentence at the Cebu City Jail.
“We were informed and assured that he will be staying in a detention facility for senior citizens,” he said.
Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Soliver Peras, in an order, said Jalosjos can be brought back to the hospital in case of emergency without securing permission from the court.
The warden of the Cebu City jail, however, is mandated to submit a report to the court in case Jalosjos is brought out of prison.
“It’s not practical to stay in the hospital while the schedule of the surgery has not been determined yet. At least, he can save some hospital expenses as well as his sanity,” the lawyer said.
The court earlier granted Jalosjos’ request to be placed under hospital arrest as he serves his sentence.
Jalosjos, the brother of convicted rapist Romeo Jalosjos, was found guilty of robbery for his participation in a highway robbery in Cebu City.
He was meted the penalty of one year and six months imprisonment and was prohibited from holding public office.
To avoid incarceration, Jalosjos filed a petition for probation, a remedy granted by law to persons convicted of an offense that carries a penalty of less than six years of imprisonment. He was eventually granted probation by the court.
Jalosjos, however, failed to comply with the requirement to regularly report to a probation officer.
Hence, the court canceled his probation and ordered his arrest.
Jalosjos surrendered to law enforcers while he was confined at Cebu Doctors’ Hospital last Jan. 23.
The confinement of Jalosjos in the hospital will be counted against his one year and six months jail term.
When called by the court, Jalosjos’ physician Dr. Peter Mancao reported that Jalosjos has a “chronic wound” in his heart which needs to be addressed to save the patient’s life.
Mancao said Jalosjos’ present condition may cause infection which could be fatal.
He said the wound on Jalosjos’ chest did not heal after the accused underwent a triple bypass in 2011 and 2012.
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