Despite allegations that the consultant on jail matters is involved in the illegal drug trade inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he still trusts his “good friend.”
“I trust him and I know him. He is a personal friend of mine. He has also spent time in jail in the past and thus he knows everything inside CPDRC,” Davide said.
The allegations arose in an unsigned letter sent to Davide by a person who claimed he was a CPDRC jail guard.
The sender accused Capitol jail consultant Marco Toral and CPDRC jail warden Romeo Manansala of conniving to facilitate the entry of illegal drugs in the jail and selling liquor to inmates.
Davide said he will personally check the situation inside the jail and “act accordingly” if the allegations are proven true.
He challenged the sender to come forward and discuss more details with him.
“He should come forward. He can’t just put blame on anyone. We can’t just accuse a person based on anonymous letter,” Davide told reporters.
Davide acknowledged that the smuggling of drugs in the provincial jail remains a problem.
Last month, the jail management conducted a surprise inspection after a female drug suspect who was arrested in a buy bust operation in Liloan town said she got her supply of drugs from one of the CPDRC inmates.
Seized from the female suspect were four medium packs of shabu worth P10,000
Toral had said that illegal drugs was a perennial problem in the jail.
Governor Davide said almost all jails have the same problem.
Last August, six jail guards were accused of facilitating the entry of drugs in CPDRC.
The warden did an individual background check of all jail guards after drug paraphernalia was found inside a cell.
Six jail guards were implicated but solid evidence was still lacking, said the governor.
Three were reassigned outside CPDRC after the inquiry.
Three others are still on duty in the jail. Capitol officials said they needed more verified facts and evidence before an investigation can continue. /CHEN JUDALE F. PLENOS, USJ-R Masscom Intern
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