Visitors at the Cebu City Jail could not enter the facility after the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology received a call of a plot to hold hostage visitors for a massive jail break.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Jail guards at the Cebu City Jail will continue to strictly implement the frisking of all those who will enter the jail and to conduct surprise Linis Piitan operations there.
Jail Supt. Arnold Buenacosa, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas (BJMP-7), said these are among the measures to prevent contraband like cellular phones from being brought inside the jail.
Buenacosa said these measures would be implemented amid the allegations of arrested drug suspect, Walter Oliamot, who claimed that the source of his illegal drugs was an inmate inside the Cebu City Jail only known as “Chao.”
Oliamot claimed to be Walter Villamor when he was arrested by the police inside a motel in Barangay Calamba. His real name, however, was found out later to be Walter Oliamot.
Buenacosa also said that he had ordered Supt. Renante Rubio, Cebu City Jail warden, to investigate the allegations although he believed that these claims were just mere diversionary tactics of Oliamot.
He said that some drug suspects who were arrested would point to inmates as their source of illegal drugs in order to deceive authorities.
He said he believed this was the case with Oliamot, who was allegedly caught with suspected shabu worth P4.7 million inside a motel in Barangay Calamba on Wednesday.
Buenacosa said the strict frisking of jail visitors would continue to be implemented and the surprise jail inspections called the “Linis Piitan” would also be conducted to make sure that no contraband would be brought inside the jail.
“That is my strict policy for jail guards to frisk all those who enter the jail,” he said.
He said those caught trying to sneak in contraband into the jail would face appropriate charges.
Aside from this, he said the police and the BJMP, would also continue to conduct surprise jail inspections to discourage inmates from receiving contraband.
“I already warned our jail guards and inmates that any illegal activity shall be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Group in Central Visayas (DEG-7), the police unit that arrested Oliamot, is preparing the complaint against the suspect.
Supt. Glenn Mayam, chief of the PEG-7, said the suspect will be facing a complaint for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, particularly for selling illegal drugs, before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.
The offense is non-bailable.
Oliamot, in an interview with reporters on Wednesday, admitted that he was involved in the illegal drug trade.