Videos show Romualdez never left QC jail — Remulla

MANILA (UPDATED) — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday maintained that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez does not leave the Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory and that the government has CCTV footage to show that.

He said the footage cannot be made public but said members of the media can check the videos.

“Samahan niyo ako doon sa [Bureau of Jail Management and Penology] para makita ninyo ‘yung footages,” Remulla said.

(Come with me to the BJMP so you can see the footage.)

Romualdez is in detention for a plunder case related to alleged kickbacks from flood-control projects. He is under medical confinement and stays in separate quarters. 

“He does not receive visitors outside of the [designated] areas… parang counsel lang at saka family ang pumupunta sa kanya (I think only his counsel and family visit him),” he added.

Jail Superintendent Maria Lourdes Pacion, warden at the QC Jail, meanwhile told that Sandiganbayan Third Division testified that BJMP only has one person to monitor more than 400 CCTV cameras for each eight-hour shift.

She also disclosed that some CCTV footage was not continuously recorded due to the reported absence of a decoder, a device that converts compressed digital video streams into viewable images on a monitor.

“So you have hundreds of blind spots?” Associate Justice Karl Miranda asked.

“I think so,” Pacion replied.

She said a decoder was requested last year but acknowledged the lack of CCTV maintenance.

The BJMP earlier denied rumors that Romualdez leaves the jail and columnist Ramon Tulfo has retracted his claim. He said he had been given incorrect information.

Romualdez’s legal team also told the Sandiganbayan Third Division that it had sent Tulfo a letter categorically denying the allegations.

Pacion also denied that Romualdez had been taken out of the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas in an ambulance or any other vehicle.

She told the court that Romualdez was transferred from the facility’s infirmary to his detention cell three weeks after he was committed to the jail.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division has ordered the BJMP to review CCTV footage from Romualdez’s commitment to the facility until November 4 and submit a notarized report detailing his whereabouts.

The court also required the BJMP to submit CCTV system records, maintenance logs, access logs, power interruption reports, vehicle entry and exit records, ambulance use records, and the identities of individuals allowed to assist Romualdez during his detention.

The BJMP was ordered to appear before the court on Monday, November 9, to present its findings.