A panel of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested the Angeles City Regional Trial Court to transfer the accused in the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo from their chosen detention facilities to the Angeles City jail in Pampanga.
In an eight-page motion, the prosecutors sought the transfer of Superintendent Rafael Dumlao III, a former official of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky M. Sta. Isabel, and Jerry Omlang.
Dumlao is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center (PNPCC) while Sta. Isabel and Omlang are both at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). All three have been allowed by the Pampanga Court to stay in their chosen detention facilities citing safety and security.
“The present custody arrangements of the accused at the NBI Detention Facility and at the PNP Custodial Center are burdensome, costly and inefficient for the Government, particularly for the law enforcement agencies where they are presently detained, not to mention the fact that custody, detention and security are not the main functions and mandate of the aforesaid agencies,” the DOJ prosecutors said.
The prosecutors urged the court to issue another commitment order for the transfer of the three accused to the Angeles City Jail in Pampanga.
Based on the motion, the prosecutors said the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is the proper agency to take on detainees undergoing trial as stated under Republic Act 6975 or the Department of Interior and Local Government Act of 1990.
Both PNPCC and the NBI are temporary detention facilities for arrested suspects undergoing custodial investigation or preliminary investigation.
The motion added that even the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) issued a circular ordering the lower courts to refrain from issuing orders committing detainees at the PNPCC.
The panel of prosecutors, composed of Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro C. Navera, Olivia I. Laroza-Torrevillas, and Assistant State Prosecutor Ethel Rea Suril, added that all the accused failed to present any evidence that the threats to their lives are true.
The panel said their claims were “bare, self-serving” allegations and the court issued the ruling without consulting the BJMP. /ee
READ: S. Korean gov’t closely monitoring case vs cops in death of Jee Ick-Joo