Taguba transferred to Metro Manila district jail

MANILA, Philippines — Mark Ruben Taguba, the accused fixer in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment scandal, has been transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa where he was detained as he faces trial for drug importation.

In a Feb. 28 order signed by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa, Taguba was ordered detained at the Metro Manila District Jail at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Taguba was committed to the district jail on March 1 after being denied custody at Camp Crame by the Philippine National Police despite a court commitment order at the PNP Custodial Center.

Taguba was refused custody last Feb. 27 due to a supposed prohibition on lower courts from issuing commitment orders to Camp Crame, where high-profile suspects are detained.

Taguba was under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation before he was transferred to the district jail.

He was originally committed at the Manila city jail because the NBI was not an authorized custodial unit, but Taguba through his lawyers appealed this supposedly because a ranking government official allegedly wanted him killed there.

Meanwhile, the PNP Custodial Center chief, Chief Inspector Jeric Polinag, was ordered to explain in court why Taguba was refused custody despite a commitment order.