PNP refuses to take in broker in drug smuggling case, sends him back to NBI
Customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba II is escorted by the NBI at the Manila RTC after they ordered an immediate transfer of Taguba to the PNP Custodial Center citing security reasons. (Photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The Philippine National Police (PNP) sent back customs broker Mark Ruben Taguba II to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), refusing to take him into custody at the PNP Custodial Center despite an order of the Manila Regional Trial Court.
According to the NBI, Taguba and his escorts arrived at Camp Crame in Quezon City, but police stopped them at the gate of the PNP Custodial Center.
In turning down Taguba, the PNP cited a 2010 circular issued by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCAD) of the Supreme Court. The circular, the PNP said, prohibited courts from ordering the transfer of custodial prisoners to PNP.
Instead, prisoners would have to transferred to detention facilities under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
Taguba is one of the accused in the P6.4-billion importation of shabu that slipped through the Bureau of Customs. /atm
