Robbery suspect asks court to speed up transfer

CEBU, Philippines - The security of one of the accused in the botched robbery of a roving bank teller near Fuente Osmeña is allegedly being threatened, so lawyer Gerard Regis asked the court to immediately resolve the motion to transfer detention.

Yesterday, Regis went to court and filed a manifestation and motion for the early resolution before Judge Wilfredo Navarro of Regional Trial Court Branch 19.

In his two page motion, he asked the court to resolve immediately the motion to transfer detention of Rolien Castro, the alleged cohort of arrested “robbery leader” Junjun Cabando.

Regis said they filed the motion after Castro’s family learned that Castro was mauled inside the Cebu City Jail by another prisoner.

Last Monday, Navarro issued a commitment order for Castro to be detained at the Cebu City Jail with specific instruction that he must be in solitary confinement pending the resolution of the motion to transfer detention.

He said the City Jail complied with the order of the court but he doesn’t know the reason Castro was mauled. With that incident, Regis said they moved for the early resolution of the motion to transfer detention for security reasons.

He said they cannot afford for their client to die inside the Cebu City Jail. He added they will secure a medical certificate to prove that their client was mauled.

Castro asked to be transferred to the Investigation Detection and Management Branch (IDMB) of Cebu City, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-7 or Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command.

But Cebu City Jail Supt. Johnson Calub belies the claim of mauling.

“Dili na tinuod gikulata gitan-aw gani nako wa ma’y bun-og,” he said in a phone interview. (It’s not true. He does not have bruises.)

He refused to comment on Castro’s motive for the transfer.

Castro was formally received at the jail last Monday at 4:15 in the afternoon. Calub added that Castro’s live-in partner did not have any complaint when she visited yesterday morning.

- (FREEMAN)