DISPLEASED to learn about the recent transfer of two suspected bombmakers from Mindanao to the Cebu City jail, Mayor Michael Rama said he will lobby for their transfer out of Cebu.
While he said the risk of a rescue attempt by comrades from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is remote, Rama said he was concerned that the suspects may recruit inmates or be a bad influence.
“What’s the guarantee of the safety of the other inmates?” he said. Rama asked for the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC) to brief him because “the jail officials don’t know Cebu City.”
The jail warden Johnson Calub earlier told the PCAC during their weekly meeting that the two suspects, who are charged with crimes committed in Sulu, were transferred to Cebu city for detention in June for security reasons. Any transfer is made through a court order.
“It’s not alarming but we had this checked for intelligence purposes, PCAC chief Eugene Elizalde told reporters.
Rama said the PNP Bureau of Jail Management Penology (BJMP) should inform him about any transfer of detainees involved in high-profile cases.
“He (Calub) only wanted to share the information to PCAC and the police,” Elizalde said.
He said Cebu City is far from Zamboanga City where MNLF forces loyal to their founder Nur Misuari are engaged in a war with the military.
“I don’t think that (the MNLF attack in Zamboanga) can happen here because we have our Muslim brothers,” Elizalde said.
Still, Rama said the detainees shouldn’t stay with the other Cebu city inmates. “Why should they be here?,” the mayor asked. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Correspondent Edison delos Angeles