Atong transferred to Bicutan cell

Despite the absence of a Sandiganbayan order, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) transferred Charlie "Atong" Ang to the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center in Bicutan, Taguig City yesterday for security reasons.

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus said any warden can transfer an inmate from one jail to another if he believes that the inmate’s life is in danger.

"Under the rules, if there’s a threat, it’s the discretion or judgment call of a warden to transfer," Corpus told The STAR.

Ang was transferred from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the crowded Quezon City Jail under warden Superintendent Ignacio Panti.

Corpus said perhaps BJMP Metro Manila chief Senior Superintendent Serapin Baretto saw the need to transfer Ang from Quezon City Jail to Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center.

Ang, a former presidential adviser, was spared the ordeal of being squeezed in with 3,500 inmates in a jail meant for 800, and where prisoners took turns sleeping.

Ang led a flamboyant lifestyle as gaming consultant of deposed President Joseph Estrada, but suffered a form of culture shock when he was taken to the city jail last Wednesday after pleading not guilty to plunder charges before the Sandiganbayan.

The government had asked the Sandiganbayan to allow Ang to be detained at the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center in Bicutan, Taguig to ensure his security.

The anti-graft court earlier ordered Ang to be transferred to Quezon City jail while his plunder charges are being heard. He was detained at the NBI since his repatriation from the US last week.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno admitted that facilities of local jails, particularly the Quezon City jail, are inadequate for a detainee like Ang, who faces plunder charges along with jailed president Estrada.

"I ordered Usec. Corpus to conduct an inspection on the Quezon City jail to check the facility and capability of the local jail to detain Ang. And after the inspection Usec. Corpus reported to me that the

Quzon City jail is inadequate (to detain Ang)," said Puno.

Corpus told The STAR that the Metro Manila Rehabilitation Center in Taguig is situated inside the regional headquarters of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO).

"Mas madali ma-secure doon, nasa loob kasi yun ng police camp and there were several structures there," he added.

To cope up with overcrowding, inmates at the Quezon City jail had adopted the so-called sleeping order, wherein each one of them is given specific time to sleep so that they all have the much needed rest.

"Malungkot, masikip, mainit (Sad, crowded, hot)," was how Ang described his first night as inmate 192 at dormitory seven of the Quezon City Jail before he was moved to the more spacious NCRPO detention center, a top jail official said yesterday.

"Hindi ako sanay sa masikip at mainit na lugar," Ang was overheard by reporters as saying.

Superintendent Panti, city jail warden said Ang woke up from an irregular sleep and was visibly irritated when asked about his condition inside the 100-square meter jail facility he shared with 191 detainees, or at least one square meter per person.

"Tumataas yung blood pressure niya (his blood pressure is shooting up)," Panti told The STAR in a telephone interview.

Jail medical personnel were placed on standby for any emergency affecting the health of Ang.

Except for irregular blood pressure and discomfort the jail personnel reported no other illness of their high-profile detainee.

But Ang will no longer have to cope with the crowd of fellow detainees who were awaiting or undergoing trial before various courts in the city.

A US district judge ordered Ang’s repatriation to the Philippines so he could answer plunder charges against him which was committed during the presidency of Estrada, his erstwhile friend.

Reports also had it that Ang will confess on the case of casino worker Edgar Bentain, who leaked a video footage that captured Estrada and Ang gambling in a casino before the 1998 presidential election.

Bentain was reportedly abducted in front of the casino and has remained missing. –with Perseus Echeminada, Rhodina Villanueva