We cannot secure Jinggoy in Camp Bagong Diwa, BJMP exec admits

The head of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Metro Manila admitted Friday that they lack the facility and personnel to detain and secure another high-profile inmate like Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

 

Taking the witness stand, Senior Supt. Romeo Vio, director of BJMP-National Capital Region, told the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division that all of the seven facilities in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig are overcrowded and undermanned.

 

“We cannot fully guarantee the security of Senator Estrada ... we have no sufficient armaments or firearms to secure high-profile inmates like Estrada, we have insufficient manpower,” Vio repeatedly told the court.

The hearing was in relation to the prosecution's plea to have Estrada transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa.

 

Estrada is facing plunder and graft charges in connectioin with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. He is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center along with co-accused Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Revilla's staff, Richard Cambe.

Another co-accused, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, is detained at the PNP General Hospital.

Meanwhile, two other accused in the alleged scam, lawyer Gigi Reyes and suspected pork scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles, are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Camp Bagong Diwa detainees

In his testimony, Vio said that at present, the seven facilities at Camp Bagong Diwa have a total of 2,669 detainees when the ideal number is only 1,100.

 

He said the Quezon City Jail Annex, where the suspects in the Ampatuan massacre are held, is now housing 151 detainees when it can only accommodate 138 inmates; Manila City Jail Annex has 336 inmates when the ideal number is only 174; and Metro Manila District Jail has 632 inmates when the ideal number is 196.

 

He said SICA (Special Intensive Care Area ) 1, where members of the Abu Sayyaf, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front are detained, has 339 inmates when it can only accommodate 378 and SICA 2, which accommodates the suspects in the Zamboanga siege, has 272 inmates when it can only house 61.

 

Vio said the Taguig City Jail male dormitory has 757 inmates when it can only accommodate 160 while the female dormitory, where Reyes and Napoles are detained, has 143 inmates when it can only house 32.

 

When asked by Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo if the Quezon City Jail in Kamuning can accommodate Estrada, Vio said it houses 3,000 inmates when the ideal number of detainees is only 174.

 

He added the ratio of jail personnel to detainees is 1:34 when the ideal number is one personnel manning seven inmates.

 

Asked by Prosecutor Manuel Soriano what actions the BJMP had undertaken since the 2005 Bicutan siege when detained Abu Sayyaf members held hostage several jail personnel, Vio said they have created an assault team to address such concerns.

Still, Vio cannot guarantee that the incident will not happen again due to the present condition of the facilities.

 

“With the present situation now, with the congestion, we cannot ascertain that there will be no riots,” he said, adding that there is 75 percent possibility that a riot would occur.

Further, Vio said the BJMP has one vehicle to transport the detainees to the court and they only borrow from the Philippine National Police if they needed more.

 

Soriano said the BJMP has an area where high-profile detainees can be placed but Vio said it is being used as an office of their personnel there.

 

“The jail personnel will need to be transferred to another cell which will be converted into an office for that,” said Vio, adding that they would be needing two weeks to convert the cell into an office and to remove the steel bars.

 

Associate Justice Roland Jurado, Fifth Division chairman, then asked about the ongoing construction of another facility at Camp Bagong Diwa. Vio said it will be finished by 2015 and no part of the building is habitable to date.

 

Soriano told Vio there is no untoward incident that happened in Camp Bagong Diwa recently despite the congestion, but the BJMP official said maintained that he cannot assure if the same situation will prevail with their limited resources.

 

The court gave then defense panel 10 days to answer the motion of the prosecution to transfer Estrada to Camp Bagong Diwa and the prosecution 10 days to respond. — RSJ, GMA News