No special treatment for Lintang Bedol in PNP Custodial Center

MANILA, Philippines— Former Maguindanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol will not be getting special treatment at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, insisted Chief Superintendent James Melad, the Headquarters Support Service chief.

Bedol, detained in a cell reached through labyrinthine pathways, may receive visitors from 9 a.m. till 3 p.m. every Thursday and Saturday, Melad said Wednesday. The special visits need to be “cleared with the prisoner or inmate.”

Melad said that Bedol was brought to the custodial center without any other personal belongings other than the clothes off his back. He said that Bedol was also not allowed to bring in his cellphone.

“No cellphone. That is part of our restrictions. In fact we have been doing the rounds just to ensure that no cellphones get into the compound for security reasons,” explained Melad. Should Bedol need to contact persons such as his defense counsel, Melad stated that the custodial center officers would find a way to assist him.

The support service chief disclosed that although Bedol had no special guards, the custodial center was manned by security personnel guarding the facility on a 24-hour basis.

Bedol was brought to the PNP Custodial Center Tuesday to serve his time for indirect contempt filed by the Commission on Elections back in 2007.

He will be detained for six months at the high security detention facility.