BJMP won’t name jail guards in alleged beating of inmates at Makati jail

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Friday refused to reveal the identities of jail guards who were accused of beating up unarmed prisoners of the Makati City Jail who staged a noise barrage on Tuesday night.

In a report on "Balitanghali," GMA News' Maki Pulido quoted BJMP spokesman Senior Inspector Xavier Solda as saying they will only disclose the names once their investigation into the violent protest, which left 29 inmates and five jail personnel injured, is finished.

The BJMP official also assured that jail guards found liable of maltreating inmates will be penalized. Solda hopes to release the probe results this weekend, according to the report.

A representative from the Commission on Human Rights-National Capital Region, meanwhile, said it will use the rubber-made batons turned over to them by inmates as evidence to prove that jail guards used excessive force while breaking up the noise barrage.

CHR-NCR investigator Marlon Poblador said they are bent on filing cases against the BJMP personnel involved.

Poblador also hit BJMP for not taking inmates, who might have suffered serious injuries, to the hospital for treatment.

He said the inmates only received first aid treatment.

The CHR is also investigating the death of an inmate at the height of the incident.

The BJMP said Arnold Dante Maribe, 40, died of tuberculosis even as the inmate's family complained that he had bruises and contusion all over his body.

Maribe's remains already underwent autopsy.

"Hinihintay na lang po natin ang result ng autopsy ng SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) upang malaman po natin kung ano talaga ang ikinimatay ng biktima," said Roman Salazar, deputy chief of the Makati police investigation branch.

Inmates allegedly held the noise barrage in protest of rampant trafficking of illegal drugs in the jail.

But the BJMP denied the allegation, saying the prisoners were only resisting the crackdown on contraband such as illegal drugs and deadly weapons.

Majority of the 522 inmates at the Makati City Jail are locked up for drug-related cases. -Virgil Lopez/NB, GMA News