Romualdez has personal staff in jail – warden
MANILA, Philippines — Former House speaker Martin Romualdez has a personal staff staying with him around the clock in his cell at the New Quezon City Jail to “help with his daily needs,” the jail warden testified before the Sandiganbayan yesterday.
Supt. Maria Lourdes Pacion told the anti-graft court’s Third Division that she allowed the arrangement as Romualdez needs 24/7 assistance considering that based on her assessment, “his mental state is not yet that stable.”
“We allow that for human consideration, if the PDL (person deprived of liberty) is not in good condition because we can’t attend to all their personal needs. We cannot hire any more personnel to assign for the personal needs of Congressman Romualdez,” Pacion said.
She explained that this is not a rare arrangement within detention facilities as it is the prerogative of the jail warden to assess the needs of the PDLs.
Pacion, however, said consideration is on a case-to-case basis.
The hearing was held to determine the status of Romualdez’s detention following allegations that he was being allowed to leave the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility at will aboard an ambulance.
Veteran journalist Ramon Tulfo claimed that the former speaker uses a backdoor staircase at the facility to leave the premises whenever he chooses. But he has retracted the claim, saying he was “fed the wrong information.”
Pacion denied the allegations, saying Romualdez has never left the facility since his commitment there on Sept. 15.
“He stays in his cell. Once in a while he goes to the sunning area. For hearings, he goes to the courtroom in the facility. He did not go out riding an ambulance or any other vehicle,” she said. Since his detention, Romualdez has attended court proceedings remotely through video conferencing.
Romualdez’s legal team also put on record that Tulfo’s allegation was untruthful and detrimental to their client.
“That was very damaging to our client because it has a tendency to inflame the public,” they said.
The court ordered the BJMP to review closed-circuit television footage covering the period from Romualdez’s commitment to the detention facility up to Nov. 4 and submit a notarized report detailing his whereabouts based on the recordings.
It must also submit CCTV system status reports and other documentation of Romualdez’s whereabouts and his health status.
The BJMP was directed to appear before the court on Nov. 9. – Delon Porcalla, Mark Ernest Villeza
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