Puerto Princesa warden sacked

MANILA, Philippines - Senior Inspector Don Paredes was relieved yesterday as Puerto Princesa City jail warden for allowing former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his younger brother, former Coron mayor Mario Reyes, to hold a press conference before they were locked behind bars.

The relief, said Regional Director Lyndon Torres of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Mimaropa, will pave the way for a thorough investigation as ordered by Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento.

Paredes denied having allowed any conference, claiming that what happened was a mere ambush interview. He was quoted in reports though as having acceded to the request of the Reyes brothers to speak to journalists who were covering their arrival in Puerto Princesa City.

But Patty Ortega, widow of murdered environmentalist-broadcaster Gerardo Ortega, said the Reyes brothers were given the VIP treatment when they were allowed to hold a press conference while inside jail premises.

Joel and Mario Reyes were arrested in Phuket District, Thailand on Sept. 21 as overstaying tourists and for lack of appropriate immigration documents. They had been in hiding since the Jan. 24, 2011 killing of Ortega.

Malacañang also yesterday vowed to impose sanctions against erring BJMP personnel.

“The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are looking into this matter and will take the necessary action, including the possible filing of appropriate cases against those involved,” Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. promised.

He added that since the Reyes brothers are detention prisoners, it should be the courts that will decide on whether a press conference will be allowed.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also said the government will oppose the plan of the two former officials to seek  hospital detention pending the resolution of the case before the Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa.

She added that although the courts are usually the ones to decide on matters like requests for hospital detention, granting it might be viewed by the public as a form of special treatment.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said that special treatment should be stopped as she called on authorities to focus on the brothers’ lifestyle as fugitives in Phuket.

“Certainly, the prosecutors will have something to say about their proposed motion to file for hospital arrest because we know that before they were (flown back) very recently, they were living like tourists there in Thailand,” she said.

Valte assured the public the murder case would not be neglected and that it would be handled properly despite the resignation of De Lima, who is joining the senatorial race in the May 2016 polls.

“We saw how our security forces really worked hard to track down the brothers,” she said.

Coloma said the “applicable rules on detainees will be applied” to the Reyes brothers.