DIGOS CITY, Philippines – Jailed former Davao del Sur governor Douglas Cagas, who has been accused as the mastermind of the 2010 murder of journalist Nestor Bedolido, said he has adjusted to prison life.
Cagas, who surrendered on October 20 shortly before a warrant was issued against him and three others for the Bedolido killing, spoke to reporters – who were given an instant tour of the city district jail here on Wednesday amid reports of special treatment given to the former executive.
“What I’m doing here now is keeping myself busy by solving crossword puzzles and Sudoku,” Cagas said as he peeped on a small opening at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s infirmary, where he was being kept since yielding.
GOV. Douglas Cagas. FILE PHOTO
The former governor also took the opportunity to once more deny his involvement in the Bedolido killing.
A self-confessed gunman, Voltaire Mirafuentes and his brother, Henry, implicated Cagas; Matanao, Davao del Sur Mayor Vicente Fernandez; and two other suspects in the Bedolido slay case. Voltaire is now under the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program while Henry has been remanded to the Davao del Sur Provincial Rehabilitation Center here.
“I have not met them, nor talked to them in person. In fact, nobody among them was present during our preliminary hearing before the DOJ in Manila,” Cagas said.
He repeated his previous line that his incarceration was the result of political machinations.
Cagas earlier pointed out that the charge against him had already been dismissed but was revived due to pressures from his political enemies.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the filing of the murder charge against Cagas and the three other accused in court in August.
Chief Inspector Peter Bongngat, the Digos District Jail warden, said the tour was granted to show reporters the jail has been well secured and that Cagas has not been given preferential treatment.
Asked why the former executive was put in the infirmary instead of a regular cell, Bongngat said it was a security measure.
“He is a high-profile inmate and he may have earned the ire of some people when he was governor. It is only proper that he will be kept away from regular inmates,” he said.
Cagas’ wife, Davao del Sur Rep. Mercedes Cagas, said his plan to run again for governor in 2016 prompted his enemies to frame him for the Bedolido murder.
“This is political because Dodo (Cagas’ nickname) would be running for governor again in 2016,” Mercedes said in an interview over MUEWS Radio here.
Davao del Sur Governor Claude Bautista, who had faced Cagas several times for the gubernatorial post in the past, said he felt alluded to by Mrs. Cagas.
He, however, said on Tuesday that he would not glorify the claim of the Cagas camp and would instead concentrate on his priority programs.
“Getting involved in political theatrics would just compromise our priorities. My priority is to help uplift the living condition of the people in the province,” he said.
Among the priorities, he said, was the livelihood and scholarship program being implemented province-wide.
Jeffrey Tupas, secretary general of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines – Davao chapter, said it was sad that the Cagases had made a spectacle of the Bedolido murder case by painting themselves as victims of a frame-up.
He said that there was nothing political in the quest for justice for Bedolido and other slain journalists.
“Calling for justice for Bedolido and all other victims of media killings is the moral obligation of journalists, and Davao journalists relentlessly headed this,” Tupas said by text message.
Tupas also confirmed an earlier statement by Bedolido lawyer Cesar Europa that the NUJP had contracted him.
“NUJP has solicited legal help from (Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao) and a UPLM lawyer responded to this call and challenge,” he said.
Tupas said Europa, as member of UPLM, had taken the case pro bono.
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