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Thursday, September 11, 2003
Guards bent rules for Ecleo -- inmate
By Minerva B. Gerodias & Karlon N. Rama
With Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
CEBU -- Another inmate squealed in an affidavit Wednesday that he not only saw Ruben Ecleo Jr. give money to jail guards, but that the guards had allowed a girlfriend of the parricide suspect to spend the night in jail, in violation of rules.
While Ecleo admitted Tuesday that he gave “many” jail guards P500 to P1,000 each on several occasions, his lawyer Wednesday said he is not willing to issue a written statement, said Assistant Regional Director Manuel Duka of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
After the escape of three inmates last Friday and the confiscation of almost half a million pesos and other contraband in Ecleo’s cell two days ago, the BJMP ordered an investigation.
Deputy Ombudsman Primo Miro ordered Wednesday a separate fact-finding inquiry to find out how a chainsaw, among other contraband items, found its way into the cell of the city jail’s most high-profile inmate.
BJMP’S Duka said their investigation will extend to the previous administrations who had had custody of Ecleo. Ecleo was detained at the BBRC in June last year.
“Because we want to determine in whose administration the contraband was sneaked in. There have been so many wardens since Ecleo was detained there,” Duka said.
Before a new warden took over the BBRC last Saturday, six wardens have served since Ecleo was first detained in June 2002. The BJMP sent Supt. Nestor Velazquez Jr. from Manila to take over the post of Chief Insp. Gledo Baroro.
But Duka said it might be a difficult investigation because Ecleo, according to his lawyer, is not willing to issue a written statement of his allegation that he gave money in small amounts to some jail guards.
A fellow inmate issued an affidavit yesterday that Ecleo had bought the tools confiscated last Tuesday from an inmate who has been shipped to Muntinlupa. (Sun.Star is withholding the name of the inmate until his affidavit reaches the courts.)
They assemble guitars in the cell and some BJMP personnel allegedly know about their activity.
He told reporters he saw Ecleo give money to some guards but he could not identify them.
He also said that when Primitivo Benitez was warden, a woman was allowed to stay overnight in Ecleo’s cell on Saturdays and Sundays. Ecleo called her Sharon and introduced her as his new wife.
New post
Wives are allowed to have conjugal visits on weekends and they can stay overnight.
Also Wednesday, former jail warden Gledo Baroro was reassigned to Siquijor as BJPM provincial administrator. Baroro accepted without hesitation. He is from Siquijor, Siquijor.
His wife and son live there.
Before Baroro’s removal, Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the officer should be kicked out of BBRC if jail officials had any delicadeza.
Rama will also recommend that security guards be assigned to the new jail in Barangay Kalunasan. “At least if you don’t like them, you can change security agencies,” he said.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if ang sakyanan ni Ecleo tapad na niya sa sud (It wouldn’t be a surprise if Ecleo’s vehicle find its way in his cell),” he said.
Rama recalled that in a previous operation, jail officials confiscated a karaoke machine and a billiard table that were found inside BBRC.
City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa expressed strong opinions when he heard about the items found inside Ecleo’s cell, especially the chainsaw.
“That’s illegal. You just can’t get something like that inside a jail. An inmate just can’t be allowed to own a chainsaw inside a prison,” he said, adding Ecleo might as well have been given the jail’s keys.
Security
Interviewed Wednesday, Supt. Velasquez said the ombudsman investigation might uncover what other problems exist in the BBRC.
He said the problem might not be with how the facility is run but with the “people who have a direct hand in security.”
“No matter how brilliantly you run the administration aspect, it is still the jail guards who take charge of jail security and dealing with the individual inmates,” he said.
Velasquez was at the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor Wednesday to meet with the members of the oversight committee taking charge of transferring BBRC’s inmates to the new city jail in Kalunasan.
The two guards who were sleeping when three inmates bolted from BBRC last Friday dawn are also facing summary dismissal proceedings.
Baroro admitted that “he failed in guarding his (jail) guards” during his stint.
But Duka said that no matter how a leader gives his best to his job, there are some personnel who do monkey business without the leader’s knowledge.
The inmate who signed an affidavit yesterday said some guards who go home to their hometowns visit Ecleo and talk with him privately. Ecleo, he said, sometimes gives them money.
But he did not hear Ecleo asking favors from these guards. He described Ecleo, leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, as very generous.
(September 11, 2003 issue) |
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