Ducat transferred to Manila City Jail

Hostage takers Armando Ducat Jr. and Cesar Augustus Carbonell were finally transferred to the Manila City Jail yesterday after they were detained for 23 days at the holding cell of the Manila Police District (MPD) following the 10-hour hostage drama in which the two held 26 schoolchildren inside a bus in front of the Bonifacio Shrine along Taft Avenue on March 28.

The commitment order for the transfer of the two suspects was signed by Judge Amelia Tria-Infante of the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Ducat and Carbonell were charged with 27 counts of serious illegal detention for allegedly "restraining the liberty" of 26 kindergarten children and one of the children’s parents. Serious illegal detention is a non-bailable offense.

The two are also facing two counts of slight illegal detention for holding teacher Ronnie Rase and Musmos Day Care Center staff member Wilbert Voluntarioso hostage.

Handcuffed, Ducat and Carbonell left the MPD detention cell past 3 p.m. after saying goodbye to weeping women detainees and amid chants of "Ducat, Ducat" from the male detainees.

Ducat has earned the respect and admiration of the MPD detainees after he provided them with meals during his detention. At one time, Ducat even ordered a whole lechon (roast pig).

The male detainees exhibited their support for Ducat by having his name tattooed on their arms.

MPD director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa welcomed Ducat and Carbonell’s transfer to the Manila City Jail, saying Ducat could pose a security risk at the police holding cell: "Ducat is reportedly a charismatic person who could influence the minds and decision of people around him. He should stay at the City Jail for maximum security."

After leaving the MPD detention area, Ducat and Carbonell were first taken to the Ospital ng Maynila for a medical check-up by Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr., chief of the MPD’s criminal investigation and detection unit.

Twenty-three parents of the 26 schoolchildren held hostage by Ducat and Carbonell filed individual affidavits of desistance before the city prosecutor’s office.

The parents of the remaining three children were unable to file their affidavits due to illnesses, while another mother had just given birth, according to Ducat’s lawyer Antonious Collado.

In their affidavits executed with the same wording in Filipino, the parents said they are withdrawing whatever charges were filed on their behalf by the government against Ducat and Carbonell. They even praised Ducat for his concern for the poor people of Parola Compound in Tondo. – Nestor Etolle