The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said former Compostela mayor Gilbert Wagashumanitarian reasons secured a pass from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to attend court hearings in Cebu.
BuCor officer in charge Manuel Co and National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Supt. Ramon Reyes said a request was filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to allow Wagas to appear in court in Cebu on July 22 and 25.
This clarification came amid conflicting reports on the whereabouts of Wagas.
Wagas’s doctor Norman Santos told ABS-CBN television that the former mayor checked out of the Visayas Community Medical Center (VCMC) at 9 a.m. yesterday.
He said Wagas was brought back to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
But radio dyLA reporter Karla Bermudo said she spoke with Wagas in his room at the VCMC at 2 p.m.
Wagas was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for malversation of funds in 2009.
“If he was not hospitalized, I think he should be back by now here in Muntinlupa,” Reyes said in an Inquirer interview yesterday morning.
Part of the new protocol regarding inmates leaving the national penitentiary is that leaves have to be cleared by the justice secretary since the BuCor was an attached agency of the DOJ, Reyes said.
He said the directive was an offshoot of the caper pulled by former Batangas Gov. Jose Antonio Leviste, a convicted murderer, in June when he slipped out of the NBP, allegedly due to a nagging toothache.
Regarding Wagas, Reyes said that from what he knew, the former mayor has constantly been bothered by health problems, among them diabetes and hypertension.
“Besides, he has escorts so there is nothing to worry about,” he said.
Despite the pass being granted specifically for court appearances only, Reyes said he saw nothing wrong in the confinement, especially if it was an emergency situation.
The call to hospitalization would rest on the escorts, Reyes explained.
“If there’s an emergency, we would not want our inmate to be put in a delicate situation,” Reyes said in Filipino
In Cebu City, Wagas slightly opened the door of room 256 to talk to a radio dyLA reporter about 2 p.m. yesterday.
“I won’t give any statement for now due to security reasons. I hope you won’t feel bad. I understand your work,” Bermudo quoted Wagas as telling her. Wagas used to be a radio commentator.
Bermudo said she saw two women and a man inside the room but couldn’t say whether there were jail guards present.
Cebu Daily News visited Wagas’ room earlier at 1 p.m. It was still locked and didn’t have any patient’s name on the door.
When CDN first dropped by Monday about 5 p.m. it was Wagas who opened the door and closed it without saying a word.
Medical staffers on the second floor of their annex building where room 256 is located refused interviews with the media.
For his part, Co gave a similar explanation on the new protocol, explaining that while the procedure ensures stricter accounting of inmates, the agency was at risk of being cited by courts for contempt because of delays.
“We explain to the courts the new procedure. We understand that if the inmate-accused could not show up [at] their hearing, the proceeding could be delayed altogether,” the official said over the phone.
“We try to strike a balance between those we allow to leave.”
The new protocol covers all inmates seeking to leave the penitentiary for court dates wherever in the country they needed to go to, Co said.
The office of Reverend Mequias Camba Jr., VCMC Chief Executive Officer, and their medical director Dr. Elia Ar Belarmino are both locked.
Wagas was confined at VCMC since last July 18 ahead of a court hearing on a libel suit filed by Daanbantayan Mayor Maria Luisa Loot.
The hearing was moved due to an ongoing inventory of cases at the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court.
Dr. Santos said Wagas has been suffering from “severe diabetes, insomnia, transient hypertension,” and a certain illness that the doctor refused to disclose.
The doctor said in the TV interview that Wagas always sought hospital confinement whenever the prisoner has a hearing in a Cebu court.
Santos said it’s the only time he can conduct a medical checkup on Wagas. He said Wagas’ condition needs “monitoring.”
Santos said Wagas secured a court order from Judge Gil Acosta of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 3 for hospital confinement.
Wagas was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for malversation of public funds, sentencing the former mayor to 13 to 19 years in prison. Santos said Wagas is still not well enough.
Santos said the court didn’t specify until when the accused can stay in the hospital.
Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane was tight-lipped about Wagas’ hospital confinement.
“I won’t comment because I’m not aware about details of the case,” Gubalane said.
Under the law, Gubalane said no prisoner can leave the jail unless “there is a court order granting his relief or in time of emergency.”
Cebu Daily News checked court records and found out that Wagas has previously secured at least six court orders that granted his request for hospital confinement in Cebu from the time he was committed to the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City in November 2009.
In Congress, Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI said he wants to know if Wagas’ admission in the hospital was “legitimate.”
He said Wagas was spotted roaming around town celebrating the town fiesta in Compostela last week.
Durano also questioned the absence of jail guards that are supposed to escort the convict.
“Why is he spotted every month in Compostela town?” he asked Cebu Daily News. With Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya and Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus and Inquirer