Cell phone smuggling try foiled at Bilibid

A female visitor of an inmate allegedly involved in the cold-blooded killing of Rizal, Zamboanga de Norte Vice Mayor Perfecto Cebedo in Muntinlupa City was caught trying to sneak in a cellular phone inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) compound.

Merlinda Bondoc allegedly tried to smuggle the phone inside the maximum security compound by wrapping the unit in the sanitary napkins she was using, reports reaching Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Ricardo Macala said.

NBP records showed Bondoc was a visitor of inmate Rey Yap, whose family is being blamed by Cebedo’s relatives for the Nov. 25 killing.

In a phone interview, Macala said Bondoc appeared to be a househelp of Yap.

Seized from the visitor was a Motorola mobile phone with image-capturing capabilities.

"You point the phone to an object and the object appears on the phone’s screen," the BuCor director said, unable to hide his amazement.

But Macala appeared to be more amazed at the ingenuity of Bondoc, who paid Yap a visit in the afternoon of Nov. 30.

"She was already inside the compound but went out supposedly to give her driver money to buy snacks. When she came back, our jailguards at the entrance noticed she was walking in a funny way. A female jailguard brought her to a private room where it was discovered that Bondoc had placed the phone in her, you know," Macala said.

Macala said that the phone was obviously intended for Yap.

Two SIM cards from different cell phone companies were also confiscated from Bondoc, who is now banned from the NBP.

Macala said he had turned over the SIM cards to the law enforcers investigating Cebedo’s murder. The phone would be returned to Yap’s family, he added.

Macala said he would not ask for an explanation from Yap as he was certain the inmate would deny that he was trying to have the phone smuggled inside the national penitentiary.

Yap, a former mayor of Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental, is serving a life sentence with his brother for the 1992 murder of Cebedo’s older brother, Victorio.

The Cebedos and the Yaps are fierce political rivals in Zamboanga. The vice-mayor was shot at the Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang after attending the birthday party of jailed former Zamboanga Rep. Romeo Jalosjos at the NBP.

About two weeks ago, an inmate serving a life sentence for illegal recruitment was caught by a radio talk show still running his business via cellular phone. The embarrassing discovery led to the relief of NBP officials. Prison authorities have since confiscated at least 30 cellular phones from inmates. – Nikko Dizon