BJMP ready to accept 59 accused in Maguindanao massacre

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is ready to receive the 59 accused in the gruesome massacre of 57 persons in Ampatuan in Maguindanao on Nov. 23 as ordered by the Supreme Court.

BJMP Director Rosendo Dial said the BJMP facility, also called as the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Ricardo Papa in Bicutan, Taguig was designed to accommodate high risk detainees and hold court hearings. Dial said they have yet to receive the formal order from the SC on the transfer of the accused in the massacre, including Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.

“We might request for police personnel for perimeter security. We have enough personnel for the security inside the BJMP facilities,” Dial told The STAR in a phone interview. “Just like the Metro Manila District Jail, which is also located within the Bicutan compound, the outer security is being handled by a team from police Special Action Force.” Dial said some detainees in the Quezon City Jail Annex are serving three years imprisonment. Despite the additional workload, Dial said they would not ask for additional budget to cover the operations during the trial of the Ampatuan massacre.

Beneficial

Relatedly, officials of the Philippine National Police described as “very beneficial to the PNP” the SC court order to transfer the Ampatuan accused from Camp Crame to the BJMP facility. “It (transfer) will simplify the process of the hearing, less risk on the security in terms of transportation,” said PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina.

Espina recalled that operations in the police offices located near the PNCO Hall were disrupted due to strict security whenever hearings of the multiple murder case were held. The offices include Finance Service, Commissary and the Intelligence Training Group. He noted that the development would surely decongest the PNP Custodial Center, which has 141 detainees but it was built to accommodate only 90.

Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona, CIDG deputy director for operations, said police are still looking for 137 suspects in hiding, including 23 allies of the influential Ampatuan clan, 97 civilian volunteers, 13 policemen and four members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

However, Taguig City Mayor Sigfrido Tiñga has expressed strong opposition to the transfer of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. from the National Bureau of Investigation detention cell to Camp Bagong Diwa Jail in Bicutan.

Clear and present danger

Tiñga said that they are against the transfer because it poses a “clear and present danger” to the security of the city. He noted that Camp Bagong Diwa is just about 200 meters away from Barangay Maharlika, one of the biggest Muslim communities in the country, outside of Mindanao. Many residents fear that the transfer of Ampatuan may cause unrest in the said community.

“We are against it and we will continue to oppose this move. I don’t think they thought this through,” Tiñga said in reaction to the Supreme Court decision on Ampatuan’s transfer to Camp Bagong Diwa.

In 2001, Tiñga, backed by thousands of residents particularly from the Muslim community, strongly opposed the then-impending transfer of trial and imprisonment of hundreds of Abu Sayyaf members from Mindanao to Camp Bagong Diwa. Their plea, however, fell on deaf ears. In March 2005, a foiled jail break of Abu Sayyaf members detained at the Camp Bagong Diwa jail led to a bloody standoff.

“The 2005 standoff was a concrete evidence of the peril and threat to which a city like Taguig hosting a major prison facility is exposed. We will not allow this to happen again,” Tiñga said.

While it was reported that “families of the massacre victims have asked lawyer Harry Roque Jr. and his associates to lay off their case,” specifically, PO1 Eliver Cablitas stated that they have hired their own lawyer to represent them, “certainly not lawyer Harry Roque or any of his associates, including lawyer Romel Bagares.”

Roque and Bagares stated in a letter sent to The Star that this is inaccurate. “We never represented, much less claimed to represent, either Cablitas or the other members of his group. Neither do we have any wish to represent them, certainly not PO1 Cablitas himself. They were never our clients. Rather, we are the counsel for the families of 13 of the 33 media victims belonging to a group known as “Justice Now.” Justice Now is composed of all the media victims in the Ampatuan massacre,” they stated.

They stated they have no participation whatsoever in the administrative complaint that was filed by Cablitas and his group at Camp Fermin Lira Police Headquarters in General Santos City. What they filed are administrative complaints before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) Central Office in Makati City. The said complaints have been submitted for resolution, and they are now awaiting the decision of the Napolcom.