Mark Taguba– INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Detaining customs fixer Mark Taguba II at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame would be “too expensive” and would “greatly affect” the institution’s resources.
This was the explanation made by PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. John Bulalacao on Wednesday, as it refused to take in Taguba despite a court order.
According to Bulalacao, the PNP-Headquarters Support Service (HSS) recommended the transfer of Taguba’s custody to other Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facilities for “practical reasons.”
“It is not that we did not accept the court order, it is just that we recommended to the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI] to commit Mark Taguba to other BJMP facilities,” Bulalacao said in a press briefing.
“And for practical reasons, ‘yun ang [that is the] recommendation ng [of the] PNP dahil [because] it would be too expensive for the PNP to be keeping him here in Camp Crame and bring him back and forth to Manila during hearings.”
“With this situation, the resources—the human, the material, the financial resources of the PNP will be greatly affected,” he added.
On Tuesday, the PNP sent back Taguba to the NBI despite an order of a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), directing for his detention at the PNP Custodial Center.
The PNP cited Circular No. 76-2010 issued by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCAD) of the Supreme Court, which directs courts to refrain from issuing orders committing detainees at Custodial Center.
The center serves as a detention for policemen accused of wrongdoings, as well as “high risk” and “high profile” inmates such as Senator Leila de Lima and former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. It also houses some ranking officials of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Bulalacao said.
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The PNP Spokesperson noted that Taguba could be “well protected” at the BJMP and the Maximum Security Facility in Bicutan; and it would be “more practical for him to be detained in a facility near the court where the case will be heard.”
However, the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City is 17 kilometers away from the Manila RTC while BJMP in Bicutan is 26 kilometers away from the court.
When informed of this, Bulalacao said: “I will leave that to the discretion of the HSS kung bakit ganoon ang reason nila.”
Taguba is one of the accused and the central figure in the smuggling of the P6.4-billion shabu from China that slipped past the Bureau of Customs in May 2017. Taguba tagged President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, in the shabu smuggling controversy.
Taguba has been under NBI’s custody since February 1, 2018. He urged the court to allow him to stay at the NBI, claiming threats to his life, but the court denied his request./kga