The defense panel of murder suspect Jason Ivler heatedly denied that they are delaying legal proceedings to avoid Ivler's transfer to a detention cell, during the hearing of Ivler's murder charges before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76 yesterday, March 23.

Lawyers for the defense failed to produce their own doctor or expert witness before the court. Defense and prosecution lawyers had been expected to bring their own doctors yesterday to finally resolve whether Ivler is medically stable enough to be transferred to a detention cell in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Ivler is the suspect in the murder of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. in a road rage incident on November 18, 2009. Ivler went into hiding, but NBI operatives eventually caught him inside his Quezon City home last January 18.

Ivler is still confined at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) in Quezon City, 63 days after his arrest. He was wounded in the abdomen area after a shootout with the NBI.

QC Judge Alexander Balut had granted the petition of the NBI for Ivler's transfer to the Quezon City Jail on January 27. Later, Judge Balut also granted the NBI's request to detain Ivler in its detention cells instead.

A clean bill of health from the QMMC, however, is required before any of the two petitions take effect. So far, Jason Ivler's camp has maintained that he needs another surgical procedure to fix his colo-rectal problem. The prosecution countered that Ivler is "up and about" to stand trial, thus bringing about a scheduled "battle of doctors" that did not push through yesterday since the doctor for the defense was a no-show.

During the last hearing on March 12, Dr. Enrico Ragaza, who conducted an independent medical test on the suspect as requested by the Dept. of Justice (DOJ), was supposed to present his medical bulletin. Atty. Mitzhell Arthur Magdaong of the defense, however, questioned his credibility.

Judge Balut then ordered Ragaza to come back on the March 23 hearing to explain his findings. In response, Atty. Magdaong said the defense would also be presenting in court Ivler's personal physician, Dr. Romeo Abary of QMMC, on the same date to rebut Ragaza's findings.

But Only Ragaza was present in yesterday's hearing. Defense Lawyer Alexis Medina said their camp "did not make any commitment to present our medical expert today."

"It does not even reflect on the record!" Atty. Medina, who was absent in the last hearing, told Judge Balut.

Prosecution lawyers naturally objected to Atty. Medina's statement, and declared the move as a "dilatory" or "delaying tactic." They added that Dr. Abary's recent medical bulletin, dated March 22, is already sufficient.

JASON ON FACEBOOK. The proceeding continued with the examination and cross-examination of Dr. Ragaza.

In his statement to the court, Ragaza said he found Ivler playing computer games on a PlayStation device on the day of his independent medical inspection, on March 5. He added that Ivler also has a PlayStation Portable and a cell phone in his room. He can also log on to Facebook, he said.

Ragaza said Ivler agreed to be inspected. In his findings, he said the suspect's "colostomy is functioning well" and that there are "no signs of infected wounds."

(Princeton.edu defines colostomy as a "a surgical operation that creates an opening from the colon to the surface of the body to function as an anus.")