For drug raps; 32 Iloilo jail men ousted from posts

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-Region 6 had confirmed the relief of 32 personnel of the Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) at Barangay Nanga in Pototan town of Iloilo.

Senior Superintendent Rex Delarmente, BJMP-6 chief, said the 32 were custodial personnel of the IDJ, who were replaced by those from nearby BJMP-run establishments, such as the Iloilo City District Jail in Jaro district of Iloilo City, and the district jails in Dumangas town and Guimaras province.

A personnel assigned at the custodial service unit usually does inmates headcount and monitors their movement; checks and monitors jail visitors; and conducts operation greyhound, among other things, Delarmente said.

The relieved personnel were in turn reshuffled in these three district jails, he said, adding that he also recommended for the relief of IDJ warden, Senior Inspector Abner Zamora, and assistant warden Inspector Henry Harder, although this has to be approved yet by the BJMP national office, and the go-signal from the Department of Interior and Local Government.

"We're just waiting for the approval to go on with relief of Zamora and Harder," Delarmente said.

Delarmente admitted that the relief of the 32 IDJ personnel came after reports that illegal drug transactions have been going on inside the jail, made known following the arrest of three female drug pushing suspects last April 30, with the seizure from their possession packs of shabu worth about P2.6 million.

Senior Superintendent Christopher Tambungan, PRO-6 deputy regional director for operations and the chief of the PNP Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (FDEU) confirmed that the three women arrested in Iloilo City claimed that they did it with instructions from an IDJ inmate.

Delarmente said BJMP-6 conducted investigation into allegations of drug trading inside IDJ. "But during our investigation, we didn't get a single statement from the inmate and personnel," he said.

All of the IDJ personnel investigated all denied the allegations, and the BJMP-6 investigators also reached out to the three arrested female suspects who however refused to sign any sworn written statement. "They won't stand to what they said on the media," Delarmente said.

When asked about the reason for the women's refusal, "maybe they want to cover-up so that the new players (in the illegal drug trade) who are still out would be spared from investigation," Delarmente said, adding that it could be a ploy to mislead police investigation.

The BJMP-6 chief said he moved for the relief of IDJ personnel "to give way for the conduct of an independent and impartial investigation." He said he asked the BJMP national office to send in personnel to avoid any thought of whitewash during another round of investigation.

On May 8, 2017, four IDJ guards were relieved from their post. Although the reasons for the relief were unclear, sources said it could be related to a recent Greyhound operation that resulted in the seizure of mobile phones, which in turn contained contact numbers of the four guards.

In recent weeks, the BJMP-6 has been rocked with issues over the rampant illegal drug activities happening in the confines of the IDJ in Pototan. But Delarmente believed the shabu supply could come from outside this jail.

Tambungan, for his part, said the illegal drug deals inside the jail thrive because of alleged rent-a-phone modus operandi, in which inmates are made to pay for using a mobile phone inside the facility. The guards would charged the inmates between P1,000 and P5,000 for an hour of cellphone use, he said.

Before that, PDEA-6 confirmed that it has been monitoring a drug personality at the BJMP Male Dorm in Brgy. Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City for allegedly running illegal drugs trade right inside the jail. (FREEMAN)