UHMM, excuse me. Will someone tell me why that guy was allowed to attend the wake of Jeffrey Diaz, also known as Jaguar, the region's biggest alleged drug lord?
I'm talking about the guy who wore the yellow shirt with “Jesus loves me so I said NO to drugs” printed on it. Yeah, the guy in handcuffs with an escort of eight guards from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology 7.
You see, Jay Lloyd—I'm not sure if that's his real name—is an inmate at the Cebu City Jail.
The report didn't say how he's related to Jaguar, but he must be a relative.
Otherwise, why would an inmate be allowed to leave prison to attend someone else's wake? Better yet, why would an inmate be allowed to leave prison to attend a family member's wake?
I thought that if you're in prison, you stay there. Unless, you have a hearing to attend then you go to court. Or, if you're a dancing inmate at the provincial jail you have a performance to go to. But those are the only exceptions that I was aware of.
I mean, I didn't know that death in the family was an excuse for a temporary get-out-of-jail card. Because if it is, and I know death is an extenuating circumstance, then all the other inmates should be able to avail themselves of what Jay Lloyd enjoyed last Saturday. Right?
Jay Lloyd did spend six hours, or between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., with his family and his pregnant wife so together they could grieve for Diaz like any other ordinary family.
But that's exactly it. They're not ordinary. And the guy's an inmate. So what made his situation so unique that he was accorded special consideration by the court?
And yes, I just found out that the granting of the get-out-of-jail card is up to the judge. So the question that begs to be asked is, who was the judge who granted Jay Lloyd's request to attend Diaz's wake?
And I know the judge doesn't have to explain his or her action to the public, least of all me, but I would also like to know why he or she made an exception for Jay Lloyd. Was it out of compassion?
Really. I just want to know.
Too bad Jay Lloyd heeded his wife's request not to grant media interviews. I would have also liked to ask him several questions like why, of all the shirts in the world, he chose to wear that one.
“Jesus loves me so I said NO to drugs.” Seriously? The guy was attending the wake of Diaz, the most notorious drug lord Cebu ever had… allegedly, and he wore that. Was he trying to be ironic?
And come on. Did it have to be yellow? Was he aware of the politics behind the color? If he was, then what chutzpah.
Either way, I thought his presence at the wake was a slap in the face of public taste. It had turned the government's fight against illegal drugs into a farce.
Let me just remind the public. Again. Diaz may have been known for being generous to residents in Duljo, but he was more notorious for being responsible for the destruction of countless of lives through his dealings with illegal drugs.