|
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Women bring in drugs
FACED with a hostile panel of legislators, Supt. Nestor Velasquez braved the queries of the House committee on dangerous drugs on his own, saying he attended the public hearing despite the short notice because he has “nothing to hide.”
Velaquez is the warden of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC).
Velasquez told the committee that the drugs that enter the jail were concealed in the genitalia of the female visitors of the BBRC.
He explained that they hid packets of shabu in a condom and inserted this in their genitalia to avoid detection.
Hearing this, Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, sixth district) pointed out that maybe blue guards were not the answer to the city jail’s woes.
“If that is true, we don’t need blue guards. We need OB-gynes to check on these women,” Ruiz said.
To solve the drug problem in the BBRC, Velasquez recommended the immediate transfer of inmates to a new facility, citing congestion and lack of personnel as a major problem.
Velasquez admitted that he pitied his female guards, who had to inspect at least 100 female visitors per visiting day.
“Straight from nine o’clock to lunch time, they don’t get any rest. Pagkatapos niyan nahihilo na sila,” he told the committee.
The BBRC receives visitors every day except Wednesdays and Fridays.
To prove his point, he was willing to demonstrate to the committee how the visitors were being searched.
The members, though, decided it was unnecessary.
Velasquez told the committee that the drug problem already existed before he assumed office last year.
When asked what he has done to solve it, he said the problem has lessened since he took the post as warden.
He has conducted more than 20 surprise raids and has been able to confiscate shabu paraphernalia every time.
“If only I was informed earlier about this hearing, I could show you documents that I have not been remiss in my duties,” he told the panel.
He told the committee that he does not know if his personnel were in cahoots with the inmates in smuggling in of drugs.
“Not that I am protecting them but I cannot see anything that would indicate they are involved,” Velazquez said.
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said he sympathized with Velasquez, but he found it irregular if something of this magnitude would happen without the participation of his jail guards.
Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) also asked Velasquez how the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 was able to receive the best regional office award.
“I cannot understand how that happened. I do not agree with that award. Does that mean that other jails in the country are worse than BBRC? God help us if that is so,” del Mar told Velasquez.
The panel pointed out that BBRC is not the only jail that has a congestion and lack of personnel problem.
Del Mar asked Velasquez if he could solve the problem in three months, and Velasquez said he would try his best.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) stated that 70 percent of all detainees under the BJMP have drug-related cases.
PDEA Director Ansel-mo Avenido said that by solving the drug problem, overcrowding of jails and the rise in criminality will be brought to a minimum. (MEA)
(September 19, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
