A TOTAL of 23 convicted prisoners of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) will be shipped today to the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) in the City of Muntinlupa, said Jail Warden Romeo Manansala yesterday.
Manansala said the insular prisoners had been convicted of cases for drugs, murder and homicide.
He denied reports that six of their inmates were allowed to stay in CPDRC, in exchange for money, for the convenience of their families.
As a rule, convicted prisoners who are considered insular prisoners are sent to any of the seven prison facilities of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
According to the Philippine Correction System, prisoners are categorized as insular and local.
Insular prisoners are sentenced to three years and one day’s imprisonment or longer, up to a life sentence because the Philippines has no death penalty.
Sentence
Local prisoners are those sentenced to three years or less.
Manansala said it is not true that they are holding the transfer of six prisoners who are facing drug charges for monetary considerations.
“Unsa man sab ang ihatag tawn anang mga tawhana oi? (What are they going to give us)” he said.
A reliable source who asked not to be named identified the six inmates who have been detained for drug charges as Panfilo Bayon, 46; Baltazar Dolores, 42; Lito Granada, 42, the head of all inmates; Diosdado Jagdon, 46; Jimbo Saladaga ;and Roel Vender, 35.
Charges
Except for Dolores, not all are facing drug charges, according to CPDRC.
Dolores will be shipped to Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog town in October.
Jail records show that Bayon, Saladaga and Verder are facing separate murder charges, while Granada and Jagdon are separately facing rape charges.
Papers
Manansala said that the conviction papers of these prisoners, like Jagdon and Dolores, have not reached their office yet.
A mittimus is a court order directing a sheriff, the police or a jailer to escort a convict to prison.
Manansala said that Granada’s conviction is still on appeal, while the others are being readied for the next shipment, which is in October.
CPDRC has 2,957 male and female inmates in a facility, which can only house 1,400 individuals.
Among the seven facilities of the BuCor are the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City; the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Tagum City, Davao del Norte; the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan; the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga del Sur; the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Mindoro Occidental; and the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog town.