Crame jailer a ‘sacrificial lamb’

By: 10 years ago

Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army chief Benito Tiamzon (left) and his wife, Wilma (right). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Supt. Mario Malana, former chief of the Camp Crame Custodial Center, was being used as a “sacrificial lamb” by police authorities to get around accusations of giving preferential treatment to two detained senators charged in the pork barrel scam.

This was the view of suspected rebel leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon in reaction to the police official’s recent relief from his post.

The Tiamzons are among 58 detainees at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center who slammed the supposed special treatment for detained Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada.

In a statement, the Tiamzons noted that while the sacking of Malana appears to be “laudable,” it may divert the attention from the real issue.

VIP treatment

“Malana and other rank-and-file police personnel seem to be sacrificial lambs in the VIP treatment of pork barrel biggies and the overstaying-visit brouhaha,” the couple said.

Malana was relieved of his post on Wednesday after he failed to satisfy his superiors with his explanation as to why he allowed visitors of Estrada, who was celebrating 25 years of marriage to wife Precy, to stay beyond the visiting hours last weekend.

Chief Supt. Benito Estipona, head of the PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS), ordered the sacking of the custodial center warden.

Earlier, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac said an administrative case of less grave neglect of duty has been filed against Malana, an offense punishable by a suspension of 30 to 59 days.

The HSS, after a precharge investigation, found probable cause to charge Malana for less grave neglect of duty for failure to implement the standing rules and regulations of the custodial service and failure to comply with specific legal instructions to inform the higher headquarters of updates regarding his unit.

Officer in charge

He was replaced by officer in charge Supt. Peter Limbaoan, who is now tasked with a stricter implementation of the custodial center’s rules and regulations.

The Tiamzons argued, however, that Malana’s sacking “may divert the need for sincere attention and pinning ultimate responsibility from the reported sweetheart deals with these high-maintenance celebrity detainees.”

In their statement, the couple pointed out that the international minimum standards in treating prisoners must equally apply to all.

“Non-big time pork barrel accused, particularly political prisoners, fear and oppose the showcasing of new undue strict detention rules, in violation of our basic human rights,” they said.

The suspected rebel leaders slammed the arbitrary and unnecessary restrictions on prison conditions, space and visitation rights as “face-saving knee-jerk reactions” to the public outrage over the preferential treatment.

Last weekend’s incident came to light after members of the media covering the detained senators at the PNP Custodial Center noticed that visitors were staying beyond the then-prescribed hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The custodial center’s visiting hours have been changed since then, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays to Fridays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Tiamzons thanked the media for their constant monitoring of the situation of detainees, high profile or not.

“We will remain vigilant and actively support the struggle of all detainees for our basic rights, not only at the custodial center but in other regular detention cells where political prisoners are being subjected to continuing inhuman conditions and treatment; and reprisals in terms of undue restrictions, for standing up and exposing abuses and irregularities by prison officials,” the statement said.