Prosecutors seek Nova Parojinog transfer from Crame to BJMP facility

State prosecutors have asked the courts handling cases against former Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog to order her transfer from police custody to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Taguig City.

Parojinog is detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center (PNPCC) in Camp Crame, Quezon City as she undergoes trial for illegal possession of firearms and for possession of dangerous drugs.

In a new motion, prosecutors said the custodial center was merely a temporary holding facility for arrested persons, and that those awaiting or undergoing trial should be detained by the BJMP, which runs local jails.

They thus asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Courts Branch 95 and 228 to order Parojinog's commitment to the BJMP's Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) in Bicutan, Taguig City, which they said catered to high-risk and high-profile inmates.

"All the more, the BJMP-SICA has all the resources to sustain the continued confinement, detention, transportation and security of the accused to and from the court where her cases as pending as it is the institution's mandate to do so," prosecutors said.

They argued further that she should be detained in a BJMP facility like others who were similarly situated.

"She should not be given special privileges or treatment distinct from all other detainees," they said.

"To say the least, the accused's continued detention at the PNPCC afford her special treatment as she is subjected to a different set of rules and procedures not afforded to all other detainees under the BJMP control."

Nova Princess was arrested in 2017 during a police raid on her family's residence.

Her father, Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., his wife, and 13 others were killed in the raid.

Her brother, Reynaldo Jr., was also arrested, convicted of possession of illegal drugs and sentenced to life imprisonment at the New Bilibid Prison in May 2019.

He also faced a pending case for illegal possession of firearms over two pistols, a shotgun, and live ammunition that police seized at his house during the 2017 police raid. — DVM, GMA News