4 top BJMP execs rapped over jail warden's ouster

Manila, Philippines - Four top officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) have been named in a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged questionable relief of the jail warden of Meycauayan, Bulacan.

BJMP director Chief Superintendent Diony Mamaril, Chief Superintendent Romeo Elizan Jr., Senior Superintendent Cesar Balderas, and Senior Superintendent Emmanuel Sicio were accused of oppression, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service.

The STAR tried to contact the BJMP officials for comment but failed.

Former Meycauayan jail warden Inspector Angelina Bautista filed his complaint before the Ombudsman last July 10 after her relief from her post allegedly without basis.

“Evidently, these acts constitute a violation of Republic Act 3910, grave misconduct, an act of oppression and unfair and wrongful act which has unduly tarnished the image of the BJMP and the government as a whole,” said Bautista in her seven-page complaint.

Bautista, who was appointed warden of the Meycauayan jail last Jan. 24, said she received a phone call from BJMP-Central Luzon last May 30 informing her to report to the BJMP headquarters in Quezon City on orders of Mamaril, Elizan and Sicio.

She said the directive provided that she should undergo the Jail Officers’ Orientation Course (JOOC) effective June 1.

Although she thought that the JOOC was no longer appropriate for her as she had signified her plan for an optional early retirement in 2014, Bautista nonetheless complied.

“Special Orders No. 1012-093 mention only three persons, who will undergo the JOOC… My verification at the BJMP also shows that there is no such JOOC scheduled for 2012,” Bautista said.

“Clearly, the purported schooling is only a ploy or guise to oust me as warden of Meycauayan,” she alleged.

“To prove that there is indeed no budget allocation for the alleged JOOC schooling, respondents revoked the order without offering any justification or reason but on more whims and caprices,” she further alleged.

With the recall order, Bautista said two other jail officers were directed to return to their original units while “I was singled out and was reassigned to BJMP Human Resource, obviously on floating status.”