Brice Hernandez to be transferred to Pasay City Jail

The Senate decided Wednesday to transfer former Bulacan 1st district assistant engineer Brice Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail, despite several senators appealing that he be detained again in the upper chamber’s premises. 

Hernandez, one of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers implicated in the flood control project anomalies, is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City, upon an agreement with Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. 

Senator Jinggoy Estrada made the motion to commit Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail, which was seconded by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and concurred by Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Senator Ping Lacson.

Sotto approved the motion after no senator objected.

He then ordered the Senate Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) to transfer Hernandez to the Pasay facility “as soon as possible.” 

The newly installed Senate President also clarified that Hernandez remains to be under the Senate’s legal custody, regardless of where he is detained. 

To recall, Hernandez was cited in contempt by the Senate blue ribbon committee on Monday after he repeatedly denied alleged information regarding his casino activities.

During the hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Hernandez claimed that some senators, namely Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, were also involved in alleged anomalous flood control projects.

Both senators have denied the allegation. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News