PDEA-7 head: I, not gov, ordered inmates to strip for inspection

This handout from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Regional Office 7 (PDEA RO7) taken on February 28, 2017 and released on March 2, 2017 shows naked inmates at the Cebu city jail sitting during a joint raid by the PDEA and the Cebu Police provincial office on illegal drugs and contraband. (PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY REGIONAL OFFICE 7 / AFP)

CEBU CITY — The director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) has cleared Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III of accusations that the latter ordered inmates of the Cebu provincial jail to strip naked in a surprise inspection last Feb. 28.

PDEA-7 Director Yogi Ruiz said he, not Davide, instructed the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) to remove their clothes to ensure the security of the raiding team.

“Yes it was Governor Davide who ordered the surprise inspection. But it was my decision to let the inmates remove their clothes. The blame should be on me; not on the governor or President Duterte,” he said.

Ruiz, however, maintained that they did not violate the rights of the inmates even as he stressed that his office would be willing to be investigated by any agency.

“We’re always prepared. I’m just concerned why it has to come to this point. I believed there’s a bigger agenda behind all these malicious insinuations against us,” he said.

Asked if it had something to do with politics, Ruiz said “unsa pa man diay (What else is the reason)?”

Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu’s third district on Wednesday said she would ask the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry into the PDEA-7 operation inside the CPDRC.

In a privilege speech she delivered at the House of Representatives, the legislator turned the blame towards Governor Davide whom she said has failed in cleaning the provincial jail of illegal drugs and ensuring the rights of the inmates.

The congresswoman said she believed the illegal drug trade inside the CPDRC has flourished as shown by the contraband seized by agents of the PDEA during the surprise inspection.

Garcia served as Cebu governor from 2004 to 2013. Her two brothers – Pablo John and Winston – faced Davide in the 2013 and 2016 gubernatorial race and lost.  SFM/rga