Strict PNP prison rules? Check visiting hours

Senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Are the VIP jailbirds exempted from the “strict” prison rules in the Custodial Center at Camp Crame?

Relatives and friends of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla have been allowed to visit the detained lawmakers beyond visiting hours at the high-security Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police.

On Sunday, families and close friends of Estrada and Revilla, including well-known show-biz personalities, were still in the facility at 5 p.m.

In a previous interview, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac said visitors were allowed to see the two senators only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday and Sunday.

Sindac explained that the Custodial Services Unit, which supervises the Custodial Center, limited the visiting hours for the high-profile detainees because the holding area of the compound could accommodate only up to 30 people.

More than 30

But journalists who have been staking out the Custodial Center observed that more than 30 people were in the newly renovated detention bungalow on Sunday.

They also noted that visitors of Revilla and Estrada, detained there on plunder and graft charges over the P10-billion pork barrel scam, were seen going in and out of the Custodial Center on Saturday.

A television cameraman said he saw actor Tirso Cruz III leaving around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Comedian Bayani Agbayani said more than 30 visitors were inside the center when he came to visit Revilla and Estrada on Sunday. “The visitors were mostly family members,” he told the Inquirer.

The senators’ families were also seen bringing in food in trays and large plastic containers.

Prison food

Since they were committed to the Custodial Center last week, Revilla and Estrada reportedly had been refusing to eat their food rations.

The Inquirer repeatedly tried to get comments from Sindac and Chief Supt. Benito Estipona, chief of the PNP Headquarters Support Service, but they did not answer calls to their cell phones.

The Inquirer saw a delivery crew of Chinese restaurant North Park bringing food packs into the Custodial Center around 4 p.m. Sunday. An hour later, a motorcycle rider also delivered food from the restaurant Amber’s.

Originally posted: 7:44 pm | Sunday, June 29th, 2014

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