Toral quits as gov vows CPDRC purge
The Capitol consultant on jail matters resigned yesterday after Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III promised a “purging” at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) amid the recent string of incidents that hit the Cebu jail.
Marco Toral, Capitol consultant on jail matters, submitted his voluntary resignation citing “personal reasons” to Davide at past 9 a.m. yesterday at the Capitol.
Toral, in an interview, refused to elaborate on his resignation and told Cebu Daily News to ask the governor about it instead.
Toral said that he planned to take a vacation since he has been under a great deal of stress lately.
“He (Toral) couldn’t probably handle the pressure anymore. There were also rumors that he’s allegedly involved in some nefarious activities inside the CPDRC, although these remain as rumors. That’s why he could not also bear these already,” Davide said during a press briefing.
Davide said he understood Toral’s reason to resign and thanked him.
He said Toral, who had been CPDRC consultant since 2013 or since Davide’s first term as governor, felt responsible for the recent incidents in the CPDRC.
Toral’s resignation came amid Davide’s earlier order to investigate the recent string of incidents at the CPDRC, including the escape of an inmate, continued presence of contraband like laptops and cellphones as well as the deaths of at least eight inmates in July alone.
Davide said he was not thinking of appointing Toral’s replacement since he was just a consultant.
The CPDRC, however, still has Jail Warden Romeo Manansala.
List of 20 names
Davide said Toral and Manansala submitted last week to Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino a list of 20 names of CPDRC personnel, whom they suspected of conniving with inmates in allowing contraband inside the facility.
Toral said the names in the list include jail guards and administration personnel.
“There will be a purging happening inside the CPDRC in light of these recent incidents. There are jail guards nga mga badlungon, we will have them investigated. We will be taking measures against these,” Davide said.
“There are things we will be looking into. Not just the guards but even admin personnel there who are in cahoots maybe with the inmates there,” he said.
He said the names submitted by Toral will be turned over to Capitol’s Committee on Discipline and Investigation, headed by Tolentino, for action.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
