EDITORIAL - Weak links

A jail guard reportedly turned down a bribe to allow former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. to escape from detention at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. The amount mentioned was P50 million, with P10 million allegedly as down payment and the rest to be given when the Ampatuan patriarch had made good his escape. The jail guard reported the offer to his superiors and asked to be transferred, according to officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which has jurisdiction over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Fortunately, there are still honest government employees. The Parañaque City Jail can use an honest guard. The DILG and BJMP are currently investigating the escape from the city jail of three Taiwanese facing drug charges last Saturday morning. Jail Officer 1 Richard Sillatoc is suspected to have allowed drug suspects Long Zong, Chan Tong Lou and Cheung Wai Leung to walk out of jail.

It wasn’t the first time, and it’s unlikely to be the last. Drug suspects, notorious kidnappers and even a convicted terrorist have escaped from supposedly maximum security detention facilities right at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame. Such escapes could not have been possible without the connivance of those tasked to keep watch over the detainees.

The problem is not confined to the PNP and local jails. Foreigners arrested for drug trafficking and other serious offenses have been allowed to leave the country by crooked immigration officials. And judges – memorably described by Joseph Estrada as “hoodlums in robes” – have approved bail for foreigners facing serious drug offenses, effectively allowing them to escape.

There is no excuse for corruption, and that guard at Camp Bagong Diwa did show that there are honest public servants. But there are also jail guards who, with a minimum monthly pay of P5,000, can be vulnerable to a seven-figure bribe, or even five figures. A lifestyle check can help flush them out, apart from the regular investigation for their possible infidelity in the custody of a detainee. They are weak links in the criminal justice system and must be booted out.