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Thursday, November 11, 2004
Drug abuse eyed in inmate’s death
By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Allan I. Varquez
Another Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) inmate is believed to have died of a shabu overdose last Oct. 10, only two weeks before one inmate died in similar circumstances.
News of his death, however, reached Cebu City Hall only yesterday, causing officials to suspect something anomalous surrounded his demise.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama ordered an investigation on the death of 18-year-old Erik Saldua, who was committed to BBRC on Jan. 23 last year for alleged possession of illegal drugs.
Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said Rama told him to dig deeper into the matter, especially since there seemed to be an attempt to hide it.
Rama, chairman of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), likewise did not know of the matter until Jakosalem informed him. BBRC Warden Nestor Velasquez is a member of PCAC, whose members meet each week.
Jakosalem heard of Saldua’s death after receiving yesterday afternoon an order from Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras dismissing the possession of illegal drugs case Saldua faced.
The judge furnished Jakosalem a copy of his order “considering that this is the fourth accused who died of heart failure inside BBRC, notwithstanding the fact that the accused was just 19 years old.”
Cause of death
The names of the other two were not available as of press time.
Councilor Christopher Alix, a doctor, was of the opinion that the Oct. 10 death might be due to illegal drug use, considering how young the inmate was, added Jakosalem.
Sun.Star learned Saldua was rushed to Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) last Oct. 10 but died while being attended to by doctors in the emergency room.
A death certificate signed by Dr. Paul Padilla stated he died of cardiogenic shock secondary to congestive heart failure.
SJO1 Romulo Deflor, BBRC spokesperson, said in a telephone interview that they immediately informed Judge Peras about Saldua’s death the next day.
“I cannot comment on things that are not in our spot report,” he said when asked to comment on the suspicion that it was another case of shabu overdose.
He said the same spot report reflected Saldua was just 18 years old.
Jakosalem consulted three more doctors on the cause of death.
“The three doctors, one surgeon and two general practitioners, can’t think of anything else. The first thing they thought of was most probably drugs because the victim was very young (to die of heart failure),” he said.
Autopsy
The theory will be verified once an autopsy is made, Jakosalem added.
BBRC became the subject of another controversy last month after it was reported that 39-year-old inmate Jeffrey Navarro died last Oct. 27.
A physician certified that he died due to “fatal dysrhythmia secondary to methamphetamine abuse,” or an abnormal functioning of his heart or brain, caused by meth, of which shabu is an example.
Suspicions of corruption and the presence of illegal drugs have been hounding BBRC, so that the City Government withdrew all financial assistance for the jail facility.
The problem prompted the creation an oversight committee that will look into jail operations.
(November 11, 2004 issue)
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