Bulacan jail warden to be replaced

MALOLOS CITY , Philippines  – The Bulacan Provincial Jail warden is set to be replaced as the inmates virtually turned the provincial jail into a shabu market and depository of huge amount of money.

This came after a police operation on Friday that resulted into the seizure of P1.6 million worth of shabu inside the cell of an arrested Chinese drug dealer, along with P240,000 in cash found in the cell of an arrested communist leader.

Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado told Bulacan journalists that Provincial Jail warden Adelio Asuncion will soon be replaced after the discovery of illegal drugs inside the provincial jail.

“I can replace him anytime, his position is co-terminus with the former governor,” said Alvarado who was sworn into office on Wednesday as the 31st governor of Bulacan.

He said that the office of the provincial jail warden is directly under the Office of the Governor.

Asuncion was appointed provincial jail warden in late 2005 after a riot occurred in the provincial jail that left at least one inmate dead in August of that year.

He replaced former warden Ariel Santiago who allowed the holding of “happy hour” inside the jail and inmates were allowed to drink alcohol.

On Friday, police operatives led by Senior Superintendent Fernando Villanueva swooped down at the provincial jail based on information that illegal drugs are being kept there.

Police operatives searched every cell and found 200 grams of shabu worth P1.6 million from the cell of Cai Qun Zhe who is also known as James, a Chinese who was arrested and charged last year for operating a shabu laboratory in Meycauayan City.

Villanueva said Zhe was able to sneak the illegal drugs into the provincial jail by inserting it into milk packs.

The said illegal drugs are being sold outside the jail making it a virtual market place of shabu.

Police also seized P240,000 in cash from the cell of Delfin de Guzman, alias Ka Baste, a communist leader in Bulacan also arrested last year for murder.

De Guzman said that the money is intended for his possible bail, yet he is facing murder charges.

Police also found documents from De Guzman’s cell that include list of names of local politicians with certain amount of money parallel to it.

Police investigators theorized that the money might have been collected during the elections as part of the communist’s permit to campaign, or payment as revolutionary tax from local businessmen.