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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Guards flip, clear chief on jail fee collection
CEBU CITY -- Vice Mayor Michael Rama is asking for the resignation of Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) Warden Teofilo Labating, following the arrest of two jail guards in an entrapment.
The City Council also requested the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to conduct a “top-to-bottom investigation,” following the guards’ revelation minutes after their arrest that they were “just following orders.”
But the guards changed their minds Wednesday, saying their superiors had no idea they were collecting the fees.
In a press conference called by officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) 7 and BBRC, JO1 Eiveht Sy and JO1 Menchu Landero said the collection “was made on our own initiative, without the knowledge of the officials. No officials were involved.”
Sy and Landero were arrested last Monday afternoon after receiving money from a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 operative, who posed as a relative wanting to visit an inmate in BBRC.
Sy explained she was so shocked and confused during the arrest, that she issued her statement linking jail officials to the practice.
Old habit
Sy and Landero said that collecting money from visitors who want to bring in food items and other stuff for sale inside the prison “has long been practiced” and they just inherited it when they were assigned to the city jail.
Sy said she has been assigned to the city jail for more than a year, while Landero was detailed since September last year with the administrative section.
Landero said the money served as a sinking fund, entrusted to her, and was used for emergency expenses such as the transportation of guards and inmates being brought to court or the hospital.
She, however, does not keep liquidation reports or records of where the money went.
Warden Labating, who attended the press conference, said he did not know about the practice since his appointment last Nov. 15, 2004.
“They admitted to me that it was their own initiative,” Labating added.
2 probes
He confirmed the regional office has appropriated funds for transportation and other expenses.
Supt. Cesar Balderas, BJMP 7 deputy director for operations and chief of the intelligence and investigation section, said an internal administrative investigation is being conducted on Sy and Landero.
The BJMP’s investigation is separate from the one being conducted by the ombudsman’s office.
Sy and Landero were criminally charged last Tuesday for violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.
The two are out on bail, after paying P10,000 each.
Balderas said that while being investigated, Sy and Landero are temporarily assigned to the regional office.
Agreeing with Councilor Edgardo Labella’s observation, the City Council noted that while the anti-graft office was quick to take cognizance of the case, its inquest investigation did not determine whether or not BBRC officials were involved.
Consequence
“It is but reasonable to factor in the top jail management officers of BBRC in the ongoing investigation, considering the alleged revelations of the suspects that tend to indicate their so-called collections were done with the nod of high jail officers,” Labella said.
The council did not buy Labating’s denial that he did not know about the “tax” collections.
“In the highly-structured organization of BBRC, considered as closely akin to the military command-based set-up, the actuations of the personnel on the lowest rung of the ladder are directly or indirectly controlled by the people at the top,” the council added.
Vice Mayor Rama, in an interview, said that Warden Labating should also suffer the consequences for his failure to supervise his subordinates.
“I am for the resignation of the warden, being the superior officer of those lady jail guards,” he said. (RHM/JST of Sun.Star Cebu)
(February 9, 2006 issue)
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