P’sinan jail warden suspended for 90 days

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The provincial legal officer has suspended the provincial jail warden for 90 days without pay and asked all personnel of the provincial jail to explain within five days why they should not also be charged administratively for giving VIP treatment to a drug suspect and for failing to report illegal activities inside the jail.

Lawyer Geraldine Baniqued, who heads the five-man panel tasked by Gov. Victor Agbayani to probe administrative cases involving provincial employees, told The STAR that the preventive suspension of retired Superintendent Felimon Doria, provincial jail warden, was served last May 31.

Baniqued gave Doria 10 days to reply to her memorandum and the other provincial jail personnel, five days. The provincial jail has 52 employees, 36 of whom are jail guards working in different shifts.

Doria has not yet replied, while most of the jail employees did. Doria is set to retire in September.

Baniqued said a full-blown inquiry is underway. The provincial jail is under the control of the provincial government.

The controversy erupted when a composite team raided the provincial jail two weeks ago and seized 119 grams of shabu, cellular phones, and P33,989.50 in cash and $45 believed to be the proceeds of the illegal drug trade inside the jail.

Abelardo Punzal, the top drug personality in Pangasinan and Region 1 (Ilocos) before he was arrested last December, was found to have been given VIP treatment with his cell having an airconditioner and a refrigerator.

Following the raid, lawyer Virgilio Solis, provincial administrator, immediately relieved Doria to pave the way for an impartial investigation.

Since he took over as acting provincial jail warden, Chief Inspector Jericho Royales has enforced stricter measures such as suspending visits for detained drug suspects and daily 30- to 40-minute exercises as a form of "detoxification" for them.