Doctor recommends surgery for tear in Estrada’s knee

MANILA, Philippines — A doctor has recommended surgery to repair a meniscus tear in Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s left knee.

“We saw that it was a complete tear. It’s pretty bad,” Dr. Fernando Syquia, an orthopedic surgeon, said in an interview at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Wednesday.

“I explained to the senator that these types of tears usually end up with surgery, because if you have a complete tear at the root of the meniscus, it’s as if the meniscus is not functioning at all,” he added.

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Snapping sound

Estrada, who is detained on a plunder charge at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, underwent a knee X-ray at the hospital earlier in the day, after getting permission from the Sandiganbayan on Monday.

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READ: Estrada arrives at private hospital for knee X-ray

The senator was preparing to leave for the hospital when, according to his camp, something snapped in his knee.

Estrada, who has grown a beard in detention, was escorted by several jail personnel when he arrived at the hospital. He appeared to be in pain when he alighted from the ambulance.

“From what I understand, he was just supposed to come here just for the check-up for arthritis [in the right] knee,” Syquia said.

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“It just so happened that as he was going to stand up, he twisted the knee that’s why the meniscus from the opposite knee tore,” the doctor told reporters.

In his motion for leave filed before the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division, Estrada said he has been suffering from joint effusion even before he was detained starting on June 1. He told the court he was previously diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

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Part of his motion read that “accused Estrada has of late been experiencing a flare-up of persistent pain in both knees, making it acutely difficult for him to walk.”

READ: Jinggoy Estrada stays in jail as Sandiganbayan denies plea to post bail

The senator has been accused of receiving up to P573 million in kickbacks from allocations and budget insertions for government infrastructure projects in the 2025 national budget.

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Estrada, however, has denied the allegation. —WITH REPORTS FROM ISABELLE PECHAY AND JASON SIGALES