MANILA, Philippines - Jessica “Gigi” Reyes wants to be detained in the same facilities as her former boss Juan Ponce Enrile and two other senators.
Reyes, Enrile’s former chief of staff, filed an urgent motion yesterday, asking the Sandiganbayan to order her detention in the Custodial Center at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
In the motion, Reyes asked not to be sent to the Quezon City Jail’s Female Dormitory where 504 inmates share a facility built only for 56 persons.
Reyes surrendered to the Sandiganbayan last Friday after the court’s Third Division ordered her arrest for plunder for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam. She is temporarily detained in the anti-graft court’s basement.
“Accused Reyes respectfully implores that the honorable court order that she be detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame, Quezon City,” her lawyers said, noting that the place where Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada are also being detained has “adequate facility and means to secure (the accused).”
Revilla and Estrada along with alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles were earlier ordered arrested after they were also charged with plunder in connection with the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers.
Her lawyers said there would be less logistical and security concerns and inconvenience to law enforcement authorities if Reyes is also detained in Camp Crame.
With the filing of motion, Reyes is expected to stay at the Sandiganbayan detention cell for the meantime since her request would be heard and decided upon by the anti-graft court after a hearing today.
The court wanted to put her at the Quezon City Jail in accordance with rules but asked the jail warden of the Female Dormitory first if the detention center could accommodate Reyes.
Chief Inspector Elena Rocamora, who submitted a report to the Sandiganbayan in compliance with the directive, said the Quezon City jail is already 800 percent congested and adding a high-risk inmate to its population is not advisable.
Officials at the Quezon City Jail’s Female Dormitory clarified that they are not rejecting Reyes but she would have to make do with whatever facilities and situation in jail.
Inspector Aris Villaester, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR), held a press conference to clarify an earlier statement that the female dormitory was not equipped to handle a “high-risk” detainee like Reyes.
“We are just stating the situation. We are not refusing her,” Villaester said.
Villaester said they could even accommodate Reyes if the anti-graft court decides to commit her there.
“We would have to do it,” he said, adding they would find a way.
According to Villaester, there has never been a high-profile detainee committed there since it was constructed in 2002.
Villaester said high-profile detainees, or those involved in sensational cases, are usually brought to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
Rocamora said the detention cells have bunk beds but since the jail is congested, many detainees sleep on the floor.
Some police officials blamed Reyes for her possible detention at the Quezon City Jail Female Dormitory because she did not abide with her earlier agreement with the PNP that she would surrender to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame.
Reyes instead surrendered to the Sandiganbayan.
The anti-graft court later ruled that she be sent to the Quezon City Jail after her temporary stay in the court’s detention cell.
“If she surrendered here in Camp Crame as agreed upon, the Sandiganbayan would have ordered the PNP to keep her here,” a police official said.
Being detained at the PNP Custodial Center is far more convenient compared to the crowded female dorm.
On the other, Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office (PIO) director, said they are anticipating the order of the court on the detention of other accused, including Reyes.
“We were hoping that the Sandiganbayan could rule on the arrest as soon as possible so we could prepare and plan accordingly. But the PNP is ready for any eventuality or order of the court that may affect us,” Sindac said.
Assuming there is an order by the Sandiganbayan to detain Reyes at the Custodial Center, Sindac said she would be brought there.
Decongest jails
Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian urged yesterday the government to decongest jails to avoid instances where VIPs and other high-profile detainees are given special treatment because of the lack of facilities.
He said the poor state of the country’s penal system is the main reason why high-profile and high-risk detainees like the big names implicated in the pork barrel scam cannot be accommodated in detention facilities of the BJMP.
He issued the statement amid calls from some sectors to detain those charged in the pork barrel scam in regular jails instead of the PNP Custodial Center inside Camp Crame.
“The Sandiganbayan has no choice but to order the detention of the personalities facing plunder charges in the PNP-Custodial Center due to the over-congestion of BJMP jails, including the Quezon City Jail which is nearest to the anti-graft court,” Gatchalian said.
He cited questions aired in the media as to why Reyes who is neither an elected official nor a state witness, should get special detention facilities instead of being placed in regular jails under the BJMP. – Michael Punongbayan, Reinir Padua, Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe