Tacloban city jail warden: No search warrants serving at dawn

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The warden of the Tacloban City Jail, Superintendent Benedicto Catudio, yesterday declared that he will ensure the safety and security of the 780 inmates in this jail, following reports that four more search warrants will be served by the police to detained drug personalities.

Catudio however clarified that any search warrants issued from the court will always be followed by his office and be served to inmates, with close coordination from jail officials and on-duty jail guards, except that they will not allow search warrant implementation during pre-dawn or dawn time, as ordered by the higher headquarters of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

“Of course we have to respect any court orders and cooperate with police operatives, but sorry we cannot allow them to implement any search warrant in the manner and time like what happened at Baybay City Jail and at Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City that resulted in the deaths of three inmates,” the city jail official told The Philippine Star and The Freeman.

Catudio said the “Tacloban City Jail is one of the safest jail facility and of course we have alerted my jail guards that police operatives could not disarm them inside the jail perimeter. We learned lessons from the two incidents in Baybay. We will defend our jail personnel and the lives of our prisoners.”

Sources revealed that the PNP and the PDEA are now targeting four suspected drug dealers, detained in the Tacloban City Jail via search warrants.

However, due to the controversy hounding the CIDG men who served the search warrants against the slain Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and Raul Yap, the applications of the four search warrants were reportedly set aside temporarily, while they are looking for the right time to push through with the legal proceedings for the issuance of the warrants.

Catudio doubted that the search warrants could still be feasible as a way of arresting a person who is already detained. Besides, the reported drug proliferation in this jail facility had already been minimized, he said.

The warden said that due to the BJMP’s serious war against illegal drugs—under Oplan Rody project—suspected drug players inside the city jail have been identified and already isolated.

“Based on the advised by my superiors the safety of the prisoners should be our priority, and any illegal acts committed by them will be dealt with accordingly,” Catudio said. “We have our daily greyhound operations, so kung meron man sila (inmates) contraband, then we have to file charges against them,” he added.

Earlier, intelligence reports revealed that at least five kilos of shabu were being delivered to the Tacloban City Jail every week, allegedly in cohorts with some jail officials, but Catudio refused to comment on this matter, saying that he was only assigned here two months ago.

Former jail warden Joseph Nunez, who recently retired from the service, was among those who were charged for receiving drug payola from the Espinosa drug ring, while Senior Jail Officer 1 Gilbert Fernadez of the Ormoc City Jail, who was also charged for the same complaint, is now facing administrative proceedings before the BJMP Investigation Division.

BJMP-8 Regional Director Senior Superintendent Efren Nemenio, in a separate interview, said that regular reshuffling of personnel has been part of his program to deter familiarization in their field of assignment.

Since he took post seven months ago, Nemenio said at least 90 percent of 480 personnel of BJMP-8 were affected of the continued revamp. Recently, 11 jail guards assigned to the Tacloban City Jail towers were relieved after a report received by director’s office that the entry of shabu passed through the towers. (FREEMAN)