Dagupan warden, 8 others probed for jail guard’s death

DAGUPAN CITY – The jail warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in this city said he welcomes the probe being conducted against him and eight others due to the gunslaying of their jail guard by an inmate facing rape charges whom he escorted purportedly for a medical check up on Dec. 29.

Chief Inspector Florante Nisperos told The STAR yesterday that he is ready to face whatever will be the result of the investigations being conducted by their regional office which started Sunday night and another by their national office which he said started yesterday.

Jail Officer 1 Bernabe de Leon escorted inmate Jose Pepito Salayog for a medical check-up after he allegedly threw up blood. But instead of going to a hospital, the two proceeded to the house of Salayog’s brother in Manaoag town. There, without handcuffs, De Leon was offered coffee but Salayog hit him in the forehead with a piece of wood and grabbed the guard’s service firearm and gunned him down.

“Haharapin ko at tatanggapin ko anuman yong desisyon nila (I will face and accept whatever their decision will be),” Nisperos said. He and another official, plus seven other non-officers who were on duty that day are now being probed. He said he expects the investigations will be done within two weeks.

Nisperos, however, insisted that he had no clearance when Salayog was escorted by De Leon for a check-up although he was at the time inside the jail compound supervising a construction job inside the kitchen.

When Salayog was imprisoned, he was already suffering from broken ribs that made him vomit blood and he was undergoing medical treatment, the warden said. “They decided on their own to allow Salayog to go out,” Nisperos said. He said he only learned about what happened when someone called him up. He added, “Andiyan na yan. Kaya haharapin ko na lang ang resulta ng imbestigasyon. Kaso si De Leon, niligawan niya yong sariling kamatayan niya. Damay-damay kaming lahat. (It’s already there. I will face the result of the investigation. But de Leon courted his own death and we are all held liable).”