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Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Bilibid official admits signing Jalosjos release papers
MANILA -- A ranking official of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) said Tuesday he signed the release papers of convicted rapist and former Zamboanga del Norte congressman Romeo Jalosjos, despite the absence of final go-signal from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a fact-finding inquiry by a panel of prosecutors led by Justice Undersecretary Fidel Exconde, NBP Superintendent Juanito Leopando said he signed the discharge papers on December 14 although the disposition form (DF) and memorandum papers attached to it were mere photocopies.
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Leopando, who was suspended following Jalosjos's foiled escape last December 22, claimed that before he signed the release paper, it was deemed already processed by the NBP Separation Center, an office directly under his supervision, and is ready for his signature.
Leopando also said he was not aware how an original copy of Jalosjos's supposed release order landed in the hands of the lawyers of the former congressman who presented it in court during Jalosjos's habeas corpus hearing in Zamboanga City.
The official was further put in hot water after Teodora Diaz, head of the NBP Administration Division Office, testified that of the 20 inmates who were scheduled for release last December, it was only Jalosjos who had photocopies of his DF and memorandum attached to his carpeta or prisons record.
The DF and memorandum are documents signed by the NBP's documents, records, and administration sections. After these documents are signed, it is then sent to the NBP Separation Center for the preparation of the release paper, which will then be signed by the NBP superintendent.
With the order of the DOJ not to continue with the release of Jalosjos last December 16, Diaz said she ordered that the DF and memorandum, which have already been prepared in anticipation of the supposed release of Jalosjos be secured.
Diaz told the panel that the DF and the memorandum of an inmate are usually prepared a month ahead of the scheduled release. She said Jalosjos's case was special as it was the subject of a review by the DOJ.
But what the investigators found anomalous was the fact that the processing of Jalosjos release paper was done all in one day -- December 13, when the normal course of processing would take about one month.
Justice Undersecretary Exconde pointed out that there was an apparent haste in the processing despite the pending review of the Jalosjos's commutation and the credit time allowance granted to him supposedly for good behavior.
Jalosjos's DF was evaluated by the NBP Administrative Division Office last December 13. On the same date, it was signed by the NBP's documents section. That same day, the DF went back to the office of Joselito Fajardo, assistant director of the NBP Administrative Division Office, for his signature. Also that same day, it was signed by relieved Bureau of Corrections director Ricardo Dapat.
After completion of the DF, it will be forwarded to the chief of the NBP's documents section for the preparation of the memo. The memo informs the superintendent of NBP of the inmate's release.
For his part, Manolo Belen, chief of the NBP Separation Center, admitted that he was the one who prepared Jalosjos's certificate of discharge.
Belen told the panel that he went to the NBP's records section and got Jalosjos memo last December 14 as part of the preparation of Jalosjos's release paper. Belen admitted that the memo did not bear Diaz's signature as required.
He also told the panel that it had been a practice at the NBP for him to get memos of inmates who are scheduled for release over the weekend, even if these do not bear Diaz's signature. This was however vehemently denied by Diaz.
Belen said he prepared Jalosjos release order on December 14. It was then signed by Leopando. He said he then made four photocopies of the document. He kept the original and gave Leopando a copy. The three other copies, he gave to a staff member on December 16 with orders that these be secured until it becomes clear whether Jalosjos will be released or not on that day.
When asked by the panel where the three copies went after Jalosjos was not released last December 16, Belen said his staff member brought these to Dapat's quarters.
The panel also noted discrepancies on the memo secured by Belen and that, which was kept by Diaz. Exconde particularly noted that the memo, which was attached to the release order signed by Leopando bore the serial number 11429 while the one kept by Diaz for safekeeping after the DOJ ordered the recall of Jalosjos's release bore the serial number 115299. (ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (January 9, 2008 issue)
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