Ombudsman to conduct ‘surprise’ visits in Payatas jail

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) denied allegations that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was secretly taken out of the Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory. 🎥: BJMP
MANILA – (UPDATED) Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla has announced that his office will conduct “surprise” visits at the Quezon City Jail to ensure that detainees are at *the facility.

Remulla’s remark came on Friday, following reports that former House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez had been sneaking out of the Quezon City Jail – Male Dormitory.

The Ombudsman said that he was alarmed upon seeing the reports, stressing that there should be no special treatment.

”To remove any doubt about how things are going, we will do surprise visits sa (in) jail,” Remulla said in a briefing. “Once in a while, at any given hour whether it be morning or midnight, just to check on everything and make sure that all the rules are being followed in Payatas.”*

“Susugod lang ako ru’n basta’t walang warning ‘yan. Ako mismo pupunta ako ru’n,” he added.

(I, myself, will go there without warning.)

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) has already denied reports of Romualdez going out of jail.

Quezon City Jail warden Superintendent Maria Lourdes Pacion said earlier that they allowed the congressman to have a personal assistant (PA) due to his unstable mental state.

Remulla, meanwhile, said individuals found liable for the incident may be dismissed from the service.

”That’s favoring somebody. That’s a violation of the oath they took—superintendent and everybody else in that BJMP facility,” he said. “‘Yung PA, ngayon ko lang narinig ‘yun. Lalo akong nagagalit ‘pag ganu’n… Blindsided ako ru’n.”

(I just learned about the PA. I was blindsided.)

The Ombudsman also noted that allowing the PA to go in and out of the jail poses a security risk.*

Romualdez has been in detention since September over a P7.44-billion plunder charge in connection to kickbacks from government projects.