Regular jails were being prepared by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to detain individuals if they are charged over the flood control scandal, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.
‘The BJMP is ready. The facilities are ready. We are not backing out of obligation to fulfill our role as the office in charge of all jails in the Philippines,’ Remulla, speaking in Filipino, told reporters ahead of an inspection of the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas on Monday.
‘We are preparing regular jail cells. If a thief of P100 at SM, if a thief and a shoplifter of lotion are jailed here, those who steal billions, in my opinion, should also be jailed here,’ he added.
‘The rules of the jail will apply to the rich and to the poor the same,’ Remulla stressed.
He added that, while the courts have the discretion to determine where to detain those to be indicted, the New Quezon City Jail was the closest BJMP facility to the special anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.
According to the DILG chief, the New Quezon City Jail had a bathroom, a shower, a toilet, purified drinking water, an area for exercise, and private quarters where those accused may confer with their legal counsels.
Remulla added that the custodial facility at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, also in Quezon City, will not be used to detain individuals to be indicted in the flood control scandal.
‘First charges to be filed in next 3 weeks’
The DILG chief – the brother of former Justice Secretary and current Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla – said the first round of indictments against up to 200 individuals will come in the next three weeks.
Who will be charged? Remulla only said, ‘Based on the Senate hearings, it appears all the names were already revealed there. So, the names that came out of the Senate hearings, the congressional hearings, I think, they will be the first ones to be indicted.’
However, Remulla clarified, ‘I have no personal knowledge of what the Ombudsman is doing. But, based only on what I see and hear, the evidence shown at the Senate is heavy.’
Retired PNP Chief and Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) Special Adviser Rodolfo Azurin Jr. previously said at least 15 cases may be filed before the Ombudsman in the coming weeks.