MANILA, Philippines—Who will his cell mate be?
Road rage suspect Jason Ivler was transferred on Tuesday to the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
According to MMDJ warden Supt. Wenefredo Abordo, Ivler arrived at the facility at around 3 p.m. and was taken to the special intensive care area where high-risk prisoners are held.
“Yes, we consider him a high-risk inmate,” Abordo told the Inquirer over the phone.
He added that Ivler would be detained in a holding area on the third floor, away from suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah who are being kept in cells on the first two floors.
Abordo said Ivler would be in a cell by himself for two weeks without any visitors while jail officials brief him about the rules in the facility.
According to the warden, the MMDJ’s regulations are different from those observed at the Quezon City Jail (QCJ).
For one, the facility implements tighter security measures and limits visits from relatives and friends since the inmates are considered high-risk, he explained.
Abordo said he also briefed Ivler’s mother, Marlene Aguilar-Pollard, about the new rules and even showed her the facility. The warden recalled that Aguilar noted that it was more spacious compared to QCJ.
“We have to conduct the briefing so that he will not experience culture shock,” Abordo said. “Because in general, we are holding suspected international terrorists in our facility.”
Ivler’s transfer was based on a commitment order issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Bayani Vargas.
This was after prosecutors claimed that Ivler was getting VIP treatment at the city jail and upon the request of the QCJ warden himself.
The order was dated April 15 although it was served on Bureau of Jail Management and Penology officials Tuesday afternoon, a court staffer told the Inquirer.
Vargas’s order directed Ivler’s “immediate transfer” to the MMDJ, the staffer said.
A check with the QCJ showed that Ivler left the detention facility at 1:50 p.m.
Desk officer SJO1 Rogelio Perez, however, declined to give more details about the transfer such as how many guards were sent to escort Ivler as he said the information was “confidential.”
Ivler is facing murder charges for allegedly shooting Renato Victor Ebarle Jr., the son of a former Malacañang official, during a traffic altercation on Santolan Road in Quezon City on Nov. 18, 2009.
He was arrested exactly two months later in the basement of his mother’s house following a shoot-out with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation who were armed with a warrant.