Negros Occ LGU halts investigation against jail warden

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The Provincial Legal Office (PL’O) has stopped its investigation on the administrative complaint against Provincial Jail Warden Lt. Dionisio Silva since there is now an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Office of Ombudsman, provincial legal officer Jose Ma. Valencia yesterday said.

“We decided to stop our investigation and give way to the investigation of the Ombudsman. We can’t conduct a parallel investigation with the Ombudsman,” Valencia said. 

The family of an inmate who was allegedly stabbed to death by two prisoners last month at the old Provincial Jail along Gatuslao St. has filed an administrative complaint for command responsibility against Silva before the PLO, Valencia said. However, the family also filed the same complaint with the Ombudsman, he added.

Marybeth Montales filed the complaints for the stabbing to death of her brother, Irish Enrile, 28, inside the Provincial Jail, he said.

Montales, who met with Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. recently to seek justice for her brother, said their family has also asked the National Bureau of Investigation and the Commission on Human Rights to investigate his death.

She formally charged Silva for alleged incompetence and gross negligence in the performance of his official duty, and gross misconduct, and jail guard Nelson Mabus with administrative charges for gross misconduct and blatant maltreatment of prisoners. - THE FREEMAN