Metro district jail ready for Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines - The Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig is ready to receive Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his co-accused in the murder of 57 people in Maguindanao last year.

Metro Manila police commander Director Roberto Rosales said the three jails, which can accommodate at least 100 inmates each, are ready for occupancy, while the temporary courtroom at the ground floor of the four-story building is a week away from completion.

Rosales and Senior Superintendent Abraham Abella, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) assistant regional director for the National Capital Region, accompanied newsmen yesterday in touring the jail facilities.

Speaking to reporters, Abella said the three detention facilities are located at the fourth floor of the MMDJ multi-purpose building, which was converted into a jail for Ampatuan. Each facility has two toilets and a bathroom.

Rosales and Abella said they do not know when the Quezon City Regional Trial Court would decide to transfer Ampatuan and his co-accused to the Metro Manila District Jail.

“We have no idea as yet how many of the accused would be transferred here,” Rosales said.

He said the transfer of the Ampatuans to the detention facility would save the government millions of pesos in securing them. Uniformed policemen and National Bureau of Investigation agents guard the NBI headquarters in Manila, where Ampatuan is detained, and escort him to and from Camp Crame in Quezon City, where his case is being tried.

“But if Mayor Ampatuan is detained here in this building, all we have to do is accompany him down the building to the temporary courtroom,” Rosales said.

Abella said at least 30 newly recruited jail guards will take turns securing Ampatuan. They will be reinforced by jail guards from the Quezon City Jail and the MMDJ regional headquarters, he added.

Abella said once Ampatuan is transferred to the MMDJ, security will be doubled at the four outposts outside the facility, he added.

Abella said Ampatuan would be subject to standard operating procedures for prisoners like the banning of cell phones and the scheduling of visits of relatives and friends.

Officials are also set to install closed-circuit TV cameras at the three jails to monitor the movements of Ampatuan, he added.