BJMP seeks relief from transfer of Abu Sayyaf detainees to Zamboanga

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 23): BJMP seeks relief from transfer of Abu Sayyaf detainees to Zamboanga

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will seek for a relief from the transfer of some 50 high-risk detainees, mostly suspected Abu Sayyaf fighters, from the Basilan Provincial Jail to the Zamboanga City Jail in this city.

BJMP city jail warden Inspector Julius Arro was notified that the BJMP in Isabela City would be escorting 50 of their detainees to the jail in this city anytime this week. The transfer is said to be covered by a court order.

He warned these detainees from Basilan could pose risks to the jail itself and the adjoining community since the city jail is within the proper, less than a kilometer from city hall, adjacent to a big elementary school and big commercial establishments.

The city jail was also paralyzed with inaction last February 20 after a noise barrage led by leaders against a drug crackdown in the cells. The noise barrage was contained after six leaders of the barrage were transferred to the provincial jail in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay that same day.

The Basilan Provincial Jail has been the subject of attacks by Abu Sayyaf terrorists or other rebel groups who barge into the jail to free their cohorts.

Arro said these detainees from Basilan, scheduled to be transferred to Zamboanga ,should instead be sent to Bicutan national penitentiary, rather than to Zamboanga City since its jail is already crowded with 1,120 detainees all waiting for their court hearings or decision from the regional trial court.

These detainees in Basilan are facing court cases in that province and sending them to Zamboanga will just complicated security matters at the local jail, he said.

Detainees or those waiting for their trials are supposed to be confined to jails near the courts that are handling their cases.

Arro said the city jail already houses some 30 “high-risks-detainees” facing heinous crime cases like kidnapping, murder and some of them are also Abu Sayyaf suspects.

The other high-risk detainees also include drug pushers including those involved in the manufacture of shabu in the hinterlands of this city and who were all arrested some two years ago.

Once these suspects are convicted they are usually remanded to the San Ramon National Penitentiary at Talisayan Barangay some 25 kilometers west of the city proper.

Since these detainees from Basilan are still facing charges for various crimes, they cannot be accommodated at the San Ramon facility that is exclusive for convicts from this city and other parts of the country.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=518896