Charges filed vs ‘returning offender’
THE eighteen-year-old offender who was just released from Operation Second Chance Center (OSCC) was charged with possession of illegal drugs and paraphernalia and trespassing yesterday for allegedly attempting to sneak a sack of cigarettes and two sachets and tin foil, inserted inside the cigarettes.
Rimer Jay Fajardo, escorted by policemen from the OSCC, was brought to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office at around 3 p.m. He had just been released from the OSCC last Wednesday after his case for frustrated murder was provisionally dismissed by the court.
Merlina Metante, OSCC executive director, said she hopes this will discourage others that are planning from using the OSCC as a conduit in smuggling contraband like cigarettes and shabu into the adjacent Cebu City Jail.
“The cases were already filed at the prosecutor’s office. We will continue to strengthen our security measures. The filing of the case is also a deterrent for others because there may be more. Some kids may be easily lured as couriers for only P1,000,” she told Cebu Daily News.
Fajardo was caught sneaking into the OSCC last Saturday dawn, carrying a sack full of cigarette packs. Officials found two small sachets of suspected shabu hidden in one of the packs.
Management
The Cebu City government has taken full control and management of the OSCC since April this year. It is under the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS).
City officials admitted that it has been a “headache” to manage the facility which is a rehabilitation center for children in conflict with the law (CICL).
According to Lea Japson, DSWS head, they are having difficulty stopping the smuggling of contraband into the city jail through the OSCC.
When they first found out about the problem in April this year, when packs of cigarettes were thrown from the outside into an open area inside the OSCC, they launched a full investigation on all of their personnel assigned in the facility.
It resulted in the firing of five house parents and one security guard who were suspected to be in connivance with inmates at the city jail.
“We will continue doing investigations among our own personnel in order to really find out why this is happening and what is the source of all of this,” Japson said.
There are six policemen detailed at the OSCC as well as blue guards. They also added to the height of the perimeter fence and installed more lights following the April incident.
This time, Japson said they will put barbed wire on the top of the fence to further prevent anybody from sneaking in the facility.
Even Metante admitted that they are having problems controlling the minor offenders at the center.
“They see the Operation Second Chance as the easiest way to smuggle contraband inside the city jail. Some of our kids also have their parents or relatives in the city jail so they may also be used by them,” she said.
While there have been several cases of cigarette packs being thrown into the OSCC, she said, Fajardo was the first person they caught red handed.
As of yesterday, the OSCC has a total of 178 minor offenders. Metante said more than 50 percent of their cases are involving illegal drugs.
CPDRC
Meanwhile, additional guards are expected to be deployed at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) as the Task Force Group searches for the appropriate individual to assume the post of warden.
Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) head Supt. Mario Baquiran Jr. announced yesterday that 16 law enforcers from his office will be deployed to the provincial jail located at Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
He said the CPDRC Task Force Group, an administrative body of the Capitol whose function is to implement rules and regulations in the penitentiary, recommended the deployment of additional men to ensure that security protocols are being strictly observed at the jail.
“(We’ll be designating) additional personnel from the PPSC. The provincial government is already requesting it, and we can send two teams to monitor and secure CPDRC in shifts. Two teams, that’s a total of 16 personnel. Eight people per team,” said Baquiran.
He also said the PPSC deployed 20 policemen from their team after the greyhound operation last August 2 which yielded several contraband items such as money believed to have come from illegal gambling and improvised deadly weapons.
Baquiran said the province earlier requested for one platoon, or around 40 to 50 policemen, from the PPSC to secure CPDRC.
“One platoon yung ni-request nila but our men still had many taskings back then kaya 20 personnel lang muna nilagay namin sa CPDRC (They requested one platoon but our men had other assignments that’s why we only placed 20 personnel only in CPDRC). But now, we found out that some of them can be already designated to the jail to monitor its security,” he explained.
“The security personnel are very strict. And there are high-profile inmates there. That’s also one reason why we decided to place more policemen there. Because that’s the thrust of our governor (Hilario Davide III). He wanted zero incidents of illegal drugs being smuggled into the jail,” Baquiran added.
Considered high-profile detainees include suspected drug lord Alvarez “Barok” Alvarez, the son of former Talisay City mayor Socrates Fernandez, Joavan Fernandez and recently, the son of late Cebu vice governor Gregorio Sanchez, Leodegreco Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Davide said 10 jail guards found to have connived with inmates in smuggling contraband into the facility will be suspended. Their names however were withheld pending follow-up operations.
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