Aquino decision on prisons chief known soon

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino’s decision about what to do with Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno will be known “in the coming days,” Malacañang spokesperson said Saturday amid calls for severe sanctions against prisons official for not stopping the jailed former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste’s alleged abuse of his “living-out” privileges at the state penitentiary.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte asked the public to wait for the results of an official investigation despite a statement by Justice Secretary Leila De Lima that she would have wanted Diokno placed under preventive suspension for allowing Leviste, who is serving a 6-to-12-year sentence for homicide, to leave the prison compound.

“We expect in the coming days the recommendation and the decision of President Aquino on the findings of the panel formed by Secretary De Lima,” Valte said over government radio dzRB.

Valte acknowledged there were calls for sanctions against Diokno.

“While there are calls from different sectors that we saw since (Friday), there’s still a process,” Valte said.

“Just like Secretary De Lima said, there is a process that we have to undergo before a decision is made on the liability and culpability of Director Diokno regarding the incident of former Batangas Governor Leviste leaving the Bilibid (prison) without permission,” she added.

Valte would not give a definite answer as to whether Aquino would heed De Lima’s recommendation.

“We can’t say at this point because the investigation has yet to be finished,” Valte said, adding that De Lima will also base her formal recommendation on the findings of the Department of Justice panel investigating the matter.

“Perhaps, it would be better for us to wait for the result of the summary procedure,” she added.

De Lima has said if it were up to her she would have placed Diokno under preventive suspension.

“If you know that things like that happen within your area of responsibility, you should have done something at the first instance more than just giving a warning to the inmate,” De Lima said Friday. “The warning and, much better, sanctions on the guard and on the officials having direct supervision should have been immediately imposed.”

The justice secretary, nonetheless, said that Diokno, a former police officer said to be close to Mr. Aquino, falls under the disciplinary jurisdiction of the President because he is a presidential appointee.

In the case of the August 23 hostage crisis in which several Hong Kong tourists were killed, Aquino tasked De Lima to head an Incident Investigation and Review Committee to determine who was answerable for the botched negotiations and subsequent operations to rescue the hostages.

The IIRC’s findings, however, were subjected to review by Malacañang and some of the recommendations for sanctions were modified and made lighter.