NPA claims custody of abducted ComVal jail warden –report

From GMA News (Dec 27): NPA claims custody of abducted ComVal jail warden –report

Communist New People's Army rebels have claimed taking custody of a Compostela Valley jail warden who was abducted in Davao del Norte earlier this week.

NPA Comval-North Davao South Agusan Subregional Command spokesman Aris Francisco said Jose Mervin Coquilla is undergoing "investigation," Davao Today reported.

Davao Today cited an emailed statement from the NPA spokesman claiming the warden “was taken into custody by the NPA in order to subject him to an investigation to determine his individual culpability with respect to the complaints lodged against him before the People’s Democratic Government by jail inmates and their families.”

“(But we) assure his family that he is being treated well by the NPA and the revolutionary mass base,” Francisco said.

Four men abducted Coquilla, who heads the Compostela Valley Provincial Rehabilitation Center in Tagum City, in Panabo City in Davao del Norte Tuesday evening.

Authorities had released sketches of at least two of the suspects.

Alleged sins

Francisco cited so-called complaints by inmates about Coquilla’s “willful negligence in the supervision of inmates and his direct and indirect, overt and covert participation of drug trade and drug use inside the Comval jail.”

He also said "complaints" received by the NPA suggesting Coquilla allegedly "siphoned off funds which are already slashed by high officials of the ruling state prison."

This supposedly led to "inadequate medical and health care and food provision for inmates," he said.

He adde Coquilla’s guards allegedly abuse the prisoners.

Also, he said Coquilla allegedly "maintained double standards and discriminatory practices.”

“He supposedly imposes strict and inhumane regulations for visiting families who are forced to talk to their loved ones while behind bars. But he allegedly turns a blind eye to inmates who were caught using illegal drugs, and to jail guards who were involved in ferreting drugs inside the prison cells,” he said.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/396099/news/regions/npa-claims-custody-of-abducted-comval-jail-warden-report