Andal Ampatuan Sr., who faces charges for his role in the Maguindanao massacre, was brought to a military hospital in Quezon City on Tuesday morning from his detention cell after doctors found him suffering from the skin disease called “shingles.”

Chief Insp. Ermilito Moral, warden of the Quezon City Jail Extension located in Camp Bagong Diwa Taguig, said the patriarch of the Ampatuan clan was brought to the Victoriano Luna General Hospital in Quezon City under tight security.

Ampatuan and other members of his clan charged for the Maguindanao massacre are detained at the Quezon City Jail Extension.

“He (Ampatuan) has been found by doctors to have herpes zoster or shingles,” Moral said.

Online information described herpes zoster as a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe.

Moral said Ampatuan was brought to the hospital on Tuesday morning under a court order issued by Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes. He said his office received the court order at around 2 p.m. Monday.

“Ampatuan will be staying at the hospital for two to three days based on recommendations from doctors,” Moral said.

The jail official said while at the hospital Ampatuan will undergo medical treatment and evaluation of his condition.

Moral said Ampatuan last underwent medical check-up at the jail facility two weeks ago. This was conducted by Dr. Claro Mondin, a jail superintendent who heads the Health Service of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR).

It was also Mondin who found that Ampatuan was suffering from shingles and issued a medical certificate last June 21.

BJMP-NCR Director Serafin Barreto Jr. lamented that the jail facility in Camp Bagong Diwa has no medical facility to address any ills Ampatuan could be suffering from.

On the other hand, Barreto expressed confidence with the security that the BJMP is providing for Ampatuan.

He said when Ampatuan left Camp Bagong Diwa he was accompanied by three teams of escorts from the BJMP-NCR and two more teams that came from the BJMP headquarters. He noted that the trip to the hospital took 45 minutes.

This is apart from the security escorts provided by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the Quezon City Policed District (QCPD), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM).

Barreto said that BJMP personnel also secured the hospital room where Ampatuan is confined while the perimeter of the medical facility is guarded by soldiers of the AFP.