ON TARGET
Gov’t exec’s wife a heavy gambler
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
A former Moro rebel-turned-bandit, Datukan Montok Samad alias “Lastikman,” and 11 other detainees escaped recently from the Maguindanao provincial jail, a commentary on the inefficiency of the country’s jail guards.
And, let’s not forget the conditions of our jails which are virtual pigstys.
Detainees are able to escape, given the chance, because of the subhuman conditions inside all the country’s jails.
The inefficiency of the jail guards at the Maguindanao provincial jail, located in Cotabato City, is matched by the ineptitude of the city police whose headquarters are a few blocks away from the jail.
Both the jail guards and the police were sleeping on the job.
I have this sneaky suspicion that the jail guards were bribed by Samad, who earned a pile from extortion and kidnapping activities.
* * *
In the wake of Samal’s escape from the Maguindanao provincial jail in Cotabato City, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo came out with a proposal to have all provincial jails in the country placed under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
The BJMP, which is under the Department of Interior and Local Government, manages all city and municipal jails.
Provincial governments, on the other hand, run all provincial jails.
Provincial jail guards are employed by the provincial government.
Robredo says BJMP guards are “professional and highly trained.”
Yes sir, some BJMP guards are professional and highly trained— in approaching rich inmates so they will have better accommodations in jail!
Friends or relatives of inmates in city and municipal jails allegedly pay BJMP guards and officials a certain amount to be allowed in.
If you ask me, provincial jail guards and BJMP guards are made of the same mold.
* * *
At first glance, Davao City Vice Mayor Rody Duterte was wrong in making a suspect in the sale of fake land titles eat his own fake documents.
But when you consider that the man has victimized thousands of mostly poor people who wanted to own a piece of land to build their homes on, you will probably laugh and say, “buti nga sa kanya (serves him right).”
The man is the worst kind of criminal because he stole from the poor.
The controversial Duterte did what the victims would have done to the man who fooled them.
They could have done even worse.
The guy is lucky he is still alive in a city that is practically crime-free because notorious criminals fear to roam the streets.
* * *
The wife of an official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) reportedly loses hundreds of thousands of pesos in the casino every day, according to my sources inside the agency.
The question is, where does the wife get the gambling money?
All right, she and her husband reportedly have a small business, but it is impossible for it to earn hundreds of thousands of pesos every day for her to throw away.
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Tags: featured column , gambling , Jail escape , Maguindanao Provincial Jail , Metro
