Manila inmates protest jail warden’s ‘abuses’

MANILA, Philippines - More than 100 inmates at the Manila City Jail (MCJ) held a noise barrage yesterday to call for the removal of their warden, Superintendent Lyndon Torres, for alleged abuses.

The inmates, most of them alleged members of the Sputnik Gang, gathered in the middle of the compound at around 11 a.m. to protest Torres’ reported mistreatment.

Relatives of the inmates claimed that Torres’ men collected money from them as “visitation fees” and tortured the inmates for no apparent reason.

More than meets the eye

However, Torres said the allegations against him were untrue.

“This protest is just a coverup for their real intention. What they want is to get me out of here so they can continue with their drug trade,” Torres told The STAR.

He said the murder of Senior Jail Officer 4 Antonio Signap a couple of months back could be traced to this issue. Signap was ambushed by two men on a motorcycle when he stepped out of the MCJ, Torres said.

Torres said one of his classmates, another jail warden, told him that a hired killer was out to get him. He said his drive against the illegal drug trade in the jail had been hurting the “businessmen” and they are trying to “get rid of him.”

A jail officer, who requested anonymity, told The STAR that there was indeed a flourishing trade in illegal drugs in the jail but Torres “had been trying to combat it. The drug lords in the jail are hurting.”

The same source added that the drug lords came up with a construction project inside the city jail but Torres stopped it, reportedly because the drug operators were using construction materials to bring in contraband.