Ampatuan 'jail party' earns ire of victims' kin: ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines - Relatives of some of the victims in the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on Tuesday urged president-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to appoint a new secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government following news that suspects in the massacre were allowed to throw a party inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

In a statement, relatives of 14 victims in the massacre condemned reports that the Ampatuans were allowed to throw a party for guests including children inside the maximum security prison last Saturday.

Atty. Harry Roque, who represents the 14 victims, said "the special treatment" lavished on the Ampatuans started after authorities refused a petition to transfer the suspects to the Quezon City Jail.

There are currently 6 members of the Ampatuan family detained at Camp Bagong Diwa: Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.; his father, Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.; his brother, suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan; and relatives Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan, former acting Maguindanao Gov. Sajid Ampatuan, and Shariff Aguak Mayor Anwar Ampatuan.

"It has become apparent that it is these special detention facilities that breed the kind of VIP treatment that they have been getting," Roque said.

A news report earlier said the Ampatuans ordered fastfood and played loud music for guests during a party inside the prison last Saturday.

Roque said that aside from the party, the warden of the Taguig Detention Center also allowed Andal Jr., the main suspect in the massacre that killed 57 people, to conduct a press conference right inside the jail last April.

"Enough is enough. Our victims now call on incoming President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to appoint only a Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government who can promise an end to the special treatment accorded to the Ampatuans and that they should hence be detained in the Quezon City Jail where they rightfully belong. This Secretary, whoever he or she maybe, should also promise that all will be done to prevent the flight of any of them from the Quezon City jail," the lawyer said.

He added that the new DILG secretary should ensure that Ampatuans' "happy days" are now over after their last party.

Roque said he will file a motion to cite the jail warden and other officials for contempt of court. He said he will also file separate administrative and criminal charges against them for dereliction of duty.

Roque said it was not true that all inmates are "entitled to hold lavish parties in jail."

"This privilege is accorded only to the rich and powerful. The decision to allow them to hold a party is not only a gross insult to the victims of the country’s worse massacre, it also sends the message that those who massacre, when they are rich and with political connections, can have lavish party even as they are already under detention for the possible commission of a heinous crimes. This is a tried and tested formula for impunity of the kind that we precisely have in this country," he said. (ABS-CBN)


Link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/06/08/10/ampatuan-jail-party-earns-ire-victims-kin

Ensure Safety Of Filipino Prisoners Against Diseases

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 14 Aug) – Philippine jail officials were ordered Tuesday to ensure the safety and protection of prisoners against diseases.

Heavy rains since last week have submerged many streets and flooded jails in Metro Manila and fears of an outbreak of diseases, particularly leptospirosis, worried jail officials.

Armando Llamasares, director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, ordered jail officials and wardens to ensure the safety of the inmates against leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease of human and animals caused by the spirochete and characterized by fever, muscular pain and jaundice, affecting the liver and kidney, causing death in some cases and also other water-borne diseases.

Llamasares directive was in compliance with the orders of Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to clean jail premises and unclog sewers and canals to prevent flood and incidents of water-borne diseases.

Leptospirosis infection occurs by direct contact with an infected animal’s urine or long exposure to a contaminated water or soil. Rats are the most common carrier and probable source of leptospirosis.

Abraded skin and exposed mucous membranes are the usual portals of entry of the infection.

Llamasares told regional jail directors and wardens to coordinate with health officials and report any inmates showing symptoms of leptospirosis infection like high fever, prostration or extreme physical weakness or exhaustion, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. (Michelle Bonto)

Hunt Is On For Escaped Prisoner

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 25 May) – Philippine jail authorities on Friday mounted a massive search for a prisoner who escaped from his escorts during a court hearing in Pasay City.

Armando Llamasares, chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, said they have dispatched a cracked team of hunters from the Special Tactics and Reaction (STAR) headed by Inspector Bernardino Edgar Camus to get back Wilfredo Rabacio.

Rabacio, arrested in 1995 on drug charges, escaped on Thursday.

He said Rabacio was previously detained at the Pasay City Jail but has been recently transferred to the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City after being suspected of selling illegal drugs to prisoners.

“How he was able to escape from his escort is now being investigated,” Llamasares told the Mindanao Examiner newspaper.

He said MMDJ warden Superintendent Edgar Bolcio and two other jail guards who escorted Rabacio have been placed under administrative restriction.

Llamasares directed jail wardens and personnel to be extra vigilant and keep a close watch over high-risk and high-profile inmates, especially those at the Metro Manila District Jail, where known Abu Sayyaf members are also detained.

And prisoners at the different jails in Manila, Pasay, Quezon City and other overcrowded facilities around the capital region to prevent any escape.

“You should tighten security in these jails to frustrate inmates’ attempt to create jail disturbance or escape,” Llamasares said. “We should learn lessons from previous jail escapes successfully carried out by inmates because of personnel’s complacency and laxity. Such attitude towards assigned tasks puts at risk jail security and personnel safety.” (Mindanao Examiner)

After 9 Years In Hiding, Fugitive Falls

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Mar) – Authorities arrested a man wanted for murder after nine years in hiding in the central Philippines, officials said.

The fugitive, a former security guard, was implicated in the killing of his companion inside the Our Lady of Perpetual College in Binan town in Laguna province outside Manila in March 1998.

Several security guards were injured in the shooting.

Officials said members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s Special Tactics and Reaction (STAR) Team, headed by Inspector Bernardino Edgar Camus, tracked down the man in Dumaguete City in Negros province and arrested him on Wednesday.

The operation, which started in Laguna, took a long time of intelligence surveillance, until the fugitive was tracked down in his hideout in the central Philippines.

Officials said the man was tried and sentenced in absentia.

The man was handed over to Chief Superintendents Antonio Cruz, BJMP’s deputy chief and Maximo Altubar Sr., chief of directorial staff, who then turned the fugitive to the custody of the court in Laguna, where the crime occurred. (Mindanao Examiner)

Stay Away From Political Partisan, Jail Chief Orders Prison Guards

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Mar) – Philippine jail officials on Thursday reminded prison guards to stay away from politics and remain neutral in the mid-year elections.

"I have already issued a memorandum to all my jail personnel in the field instructing them to strictly stay apolitical by observing neutrality and refrain from engaging in partisan political activities, except to vote," said Senior Superintendent Abraham Pil Lintao, regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

The BJMP has sent out memoranda on all its personnel about the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) guidelines and regulations implementing the Republic Act No. 9006 also known as the "Fair Election Act".

Insp. Belsie Agustin, BJMP chief of operations and spokesman, said they have ordered all jail wardens to refrain from influencing their subordinates as to who to vote in the coming polls.

"The Fair Election Act stringently disallows a direct or indirect solicitation of votes or support for or against any candidate, and influencing the choices to be made by their personnel constitute violation," Agustin said.

Under the law, any person found guilty of the election offense shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one 1 year, but not more than six 6 years and shall not be subject for probation and worse, violators would be disqualified to hold public office and his right of suffrage, Agustin said. (Joel Zanoria)

BJMP Holds Seminar On Use Of Force Standards

QUEZON CITY (Belsie Agustin / 06 Oct) - Selected jail regional directors and wardens from the National Capital Region took part in a two-day seminar-workshop of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on the use of force standards.

BJMP officer-in-charge Chief Supt. Antonio C. Cruz said the consultative workshop, held recently at the BJMP’s national headquarters in Quezon City, was aimed at establishing fundamental policies and procedures that will govern the actions taken by jail officers in cases of emergencies and disturbances that present imminent danger to personnel and inmates.

Cruz said the seminar sets the standards in employing force to any situations within the jurisdiction of the bureau to prevent or control any disturbance or incident.

“It also provides legal and moral principles in the use of force and significantly aims to set specific standards on the subject on a rule by rule approach in accordance with the law to the maximum extent applicable without losing one’s inherent right of self defense,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said other salient objectives of the workshop included ways to balance the two contending goals in any engagement, which are important to effectively achieve the objectives, and the need to avoid using unnecessary force.

“Furthermore, mistakes or miscalculations engendered by extremely stiff or excessively loose Rules of Engagement will be prevented,” he said.

Cruz stressed that all BJMP units and personnel adhere to the general rule that the use of force is justified only by virtue of the doctrine of self-defense and defense of a stranger or relatives.

He stressed that jail officers, and even the police and military, are subject to the law of the law, and thus, in their relations with inmates, they should not use force unless necessary to maintain security and order in the facility, or when personal safety is threatened.

Cruz urged jail officers to apply only if possible, non-violent means and they should use only force or firearms if all possible means has been exhausted.

“The general rule on the use of force standards also suggests that the development and use of non-lethal incapacitating weapons should be carefully evaluated to minimize risks of endangering uninvolved persons; and the use of such weapons should be properly controlled,” he stressed.

“While the seminar-workshop on the use of force standards offers us an insight into its importance, I encourage you to continue training and achieve proficiency in the use of firearms.” (Mindanao Examiner)

Allow Inmates To Vote, Jail Chief Says

MANILA (Belsie Agustin / 01 Oct) - Bureau of Jail Management and Penology officer-in-charge, Chief Supt Antonio C. Cruz, said he favors the idea on allowing inmates, not yet convicted of a crime, to vote in local and national elections.

He said he would not oppose any plans of putting poll precincts inside jail facilities for prisoners to be able to vote.

Cruz said the Commission on Elections should initiate and finance the establishment of election precincts inside jails where detainees can cast their votes.

He said the proposal was espoused by several civic groups and human rights advocates to uphold inmates’ right to suffrage, citing a provision in Article V, section 1 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least six months immediately preceding the election.”

The law further provides that, “No literacy, property, or any substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.”

Cruz said some 63,000 offenders are currently in jails and many of them wanted to be able to cast their votes.

In 1991 and 2004 elections, Cruz said, qualified inmates of Davao City Jail in Mindanao and Lucena City Jail in Quezon province were allowed to vote. In these elections he added, the COMELEC had set up voting precincts inside said jails and allowed registered inmate-voters to cast their votes.

Some 6,000 inmates in Manila City jail and 3,000 more in Quezon City Jail are awaiting to be given their chance to select, if ever they be allowed to vote, their candidates that can help in their predicament and pursue for their increase of BJMP’s meager budget.

BJMP’s inmates alone represent a large voting block and their votes, if allowed to participate in an election, can make a difference in our present political system.

"Our inmates should be afforded with their basic rights to the Constitution as it also contributes to their rehabilitation," Cruz added.