Sandigan denies VACC request to inspect jail of Estrada, Revilla

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan denied the request of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption ‎(VACC) to go inside and inspect the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, where two senators are detained for plunder over the pork barrel scam.

Lawyer Dennis Pulma, the Sandiganbayan Third Division clerk of court, said in a letter to VACC president Dante Jimenez that the group’s request has been rejected since the court has no jurisdiction over the PNP Custodial Center operations.

In the letter dated September 22, Pulma cited the guidelines of the 2012 PNP Manual of Operations listing down the selected persons or groups allowed inside the Camp Crame-based detention center.

The PNP could only allow legal counsels, medical doctors, priests or religious ministers‎, immediate family members to see the detainees.

Earlier the VACC sought the court’s permission to inspect the PNP Custodial Center ‎where Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada are held for plunder charges after allegedly

‎The anti-crime and corruption group made the request to see for themselves “that there is no special treatment being accorded to the (same) accused.”

When Estrada and Revilla were put behind bars in June, reports were rife that the PNP is giving the detained senators special treatment. One report had it that Estrada’s visitors were allowed to stay past the visiting hours during his wedding anniversary with wife Precy.

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, co-accused of two senators, is under hospital arrest at the PNP General Hospital, also in Camp Crame.

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