The camp of former Lezo, Aklan mayor Alfredo Arsenio is seeking his transfer from a detention cell in Cebu province back to his hometown.
Arsenio’s lawyer Eduardo Arriba said neither the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) nor the Cebu City Jail wants to take custody of the accused.
“It is like a football game between the city and the province. It would be better if he will be transferred back to Aklan,” Arriba said
In an interview yesterday, Arsenio said he’s willing to be transferred.
Arriba said a mediation is set by the court on June 15 to solve the issue of custody.
“Considering that the crime was allegedly committed in Aklan, the best option is to bring back Arsenio to Aklan,” he said.
Arsenio is willing to shoulder travel expenses to Cebu City to attend hearings.
Arsenio was accused of shooting Bombo Radyo dyIN station managerHeherson “Boy” Hinolan near a carnival in Kalibo, Aklan on Nov. 13, 2004.
Arsenio denied the charge saying he was home at the time of the killing.
The court ordered the transfer of his hearing venue in Cebu as well as to detain Arsenio in a Cebu City facility.
Last Feb. 8, Arsenio’s unauthorized lunch out with his lawyer and a jail guard at Sabel’s Restaurant near the Palace of Justice landed in a TV-5 newscast and CDN’s front page with images of the detainee, without handcuffs, holding a wad of money bills, as he emerged from the eatery.
The report prompted Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to immediately relieve CPDRC jail warden Alger Comendador and later suspend the detainee’s jail-guard escort./Ador Vincent S. Mayol