9 Makati jail guards face raps for violent dispersal of protesting inmates

Nine Makati City Jail guards are facing charges for the violent dispersal of inmates during a noise barrage to protest alleged anomalies in the detention facility last March 9.

 

A report on Balitanghali said that an investigation by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) after the incident found grounds to suspend Jail Inspector Adelo Natividad , SJO1 Arvinio Tanjo, JOI Richard Mostales, JO1 Norly Sadularjo, JO1 Boulzy de Guzman, JO1 Miguel Turaray III, JO1 Gerald Alladin, JO1 Roldan Pentonjo, and JO1 Benito Begueras.

 

Videos taken by GMA News captured the jail guards beating the defenseless inmates who were already pacified.

 

The inmates were protesting alleged mistreatment by jail guards and the bad food served inside the facility. They also claimed that an official of the BJMP forced them to sell illegal drugs.

 

A total of 29 inmates were injured in the incident, which ended after two firetrucks hosed down the protesters.

 

But even after the inmates were contained, jail guards continued to hit them with batons.

 

"We will not tolerate erring personnel," BJMP spokesman Senior Inspector Xavier Solda said.

 

The BJMP, meanwhile, has not found Makati City Jail Warden Superintendent Esmeralda Azucena accountable for the incident.

 

BJMP maintained that that the guards had nothing to do with the death of one of the protesters, Arnold Marabe.

 

Arabe was proclaimed dead on arrival after being rushed to the hospital after the noise barrage.

 

Marabe was already suffering from tuberculosis and asthma.

 

Solda also laid down the possibility that the inmate was injured during the stampede that occurred while the inmates were being hosed down.

 

"Madilim noon, madulas ang sahig, pati personnel namin may mga tama," Solda said.

 

The 11 inmates who headed the noise barrage have been transferred to the BJMP facility in Bicutan.

 

They might be penalized for destroying bunk beds, CCTV cameras, and the computers used for alternative learning during their protest, the report said.

 

"Kung kami tatanungin, doon na lang sila," Solda said when asked if there are plans to transfer the 11 inmatese back to Makati City. —Jessica Bartolome/ALG, GMA News