QC court orders Parojinog’s transfer to BJMP facility
MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City Regional Trial Court has ordered the detention transfer of former Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog from the Philippine National Police Custodial Center (PNPCC) in Camp Crame to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s (BJMP) Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) in Taguig City.
Parojinog is facing cases for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 specifically Section 11 for possession of dangerous drugs before QC-RTC Branch 228 and violation of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition under Section 28 of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act before QC-RTC Branch 95.
State prosecutors led by Senior State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera said the PNPCC is only a temporary holding facility for arrested persons.
“The agency vested by law to administer and supervise jail facilities where arrested persons should be committed while waiting or undergoing trial is the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP),” read the prosecutors’ motion to transfer.
The prosecutors said her continued stay at PNPCC can be considered “special treatment.”
The QCRTC Branch 95, in granting the prosecution’s motion said that while it disagrees with the allegation of “special treatment,” the other points raised by the prosecution are valid.
“The other contentions presented by the prosecution are impressed with merit. Verily, this Court does not find any necessity for the continued detention of accused Parojinog in a custodial facility, unless there is a clear showing that the same poses existing serious threats and/or that BJMP-SICA does not have adequate resources to sustain the detention (of) high-risk detention prisoners, such as accused Parojinog,” said the court.
Parojinog and her brother, Reynaldo Jr., were arrested in a simultaneous raids conducted by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in 2017.
Seized at her house were various sizes of heat-sealed plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance, disposable lighters, aluminum foils, 500 pieces of P1,000 bills, 1,800 pieces of P500 bills, one sheet of paper containing different numerical entries as well as one unit of M16 rifle Blackwater, one-piece plastic magazine for M16 rifle, one-piece fired cartridge case for M16 rife and 13 pieces live ammunition for M16 rifle.
