SC denies plea of ex-BI officials to suspend transfer to NBP

The Supreme Court has denied the appeal of three former Bureau of Immigration officials to suspend their transfer to the New Bilibid Prison and allow them to remain detained at Camp Bagong Diwa.

In an eight-page resolution, the High Court denied the appeal of former Immigration commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles and retired police officer Wenceslao Sombrero Jr., saying they were considered national inmates.

The three were convicted of plunder and of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua for plunder and imprisonment of six years and one month as minimum and 10 years as maximum for graft.

“Being national prisoners, the Sandiganbayan was correct in ordering the transfer of accused-appellants from the MMDJ, a local jail, to the NBP in Muntinlupa City,” the Court said.

During the promulgation, the three requested that they be allowed to remain at the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) in Camp Bagong Diwa, citing the COVID-19 surge caused by the Delta variant and their health conditions.

Sombrero, 65, said his age and medical conditions render him more vulnerable to developing severe COVID-19 as he has not been vaccinated. Similar arguments were made by Argosino and Robles.

They argued that the ruling in Enrile v. Sandiganbayan should be applied to their cases on humanitarian grounds and that the coronavirus pandemic should be considered a special and compelling circumstance.

However, the Court said it was not persuaded.

“Unlike in Enrile, accused-appellants/movants in these cases are not mere detainees asking to be released on bail pending trial. They are national prisoners, who, upon conviction of violation of RA No. 3019 and Plunder, are no longer presumed innocent,” it said.

“Moreover, their allegations pertaining to their health conditions, and the documents showing the medical findings of their doctors, are questions of fact which are not within the province of the Court to determine,” it added.

Further, the Court said that as of writing, the Department of Health has observed a downtrend in the number of COVID-19 cases.

“On account of the positive developments in the country's battle against Covid-19, charting towards "herd immunity" - this Court finds no compelling reason to suspend the transfer of accused appellants to the National Penitentiary,” it said.—AOL, GMA News