DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday assured the public that the Pasay City Jail is fully prepared to accommodate government personnel with Salary Grade 26 and below who may be ordered detained in connection with the alleged ghost flood control projects.
“I want to assure the public that the DILG, the government, and the country are ready to apprehend, contain, and deliver justice to the Filipino people. We are ready,” Remulla said. “If they are indicted in court, they will be placed here as regular inmates,” he stressed during his inspection of the Pasay City Jail on Thursday to ensure the facility’s readiness and security.
The jail currently holds 964 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs), with an ideal capacity of only 103 PDLs, and with a congestion rate of more than 800 percent.
The DILG Chief said the suspects will be detained in regular cells without air conditioning, alongside ordinary PDLs. “I gave strict instructions that no one is allowed to place an inmate in the warden’s office so they will be in the common cells,” he said, noting that the warden’s office is the only air-conditioned area in the facility.
He also made clear that the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame will not be used for the detention of suspects in the flood control issue. “There is no longer a La Catedral, no longer a place for rich people to live inside the prison. I will not allow that. The law is the law and we will follow it, no matter how painful it gets for anyone,” Remulla said firmly.
To guarantee transparency and prevent any special privileges, Remulla added that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) will conduct CCTV monitoring of jail personnel and operations.
With the DILG Secretary during the inspection were BJMP Chief Jail Director Ruel Rivera and other senior officials of the jail bureau.
Last Monday, Remulla also inspected the newly constructed Quezon City Jail – Male Dormitory (QCJMD) along Payatas Road which is also being readied for possible indictments of individuals involved in the ongoing flood-control scandal holding Salary Grade 27 up.
In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s commitment to accountability and equal justice, the DILG affirms that under this administration, justice will never be a privilege of the powerful.
Every person will be held to the same standard of the law. No walls are high enough, no names big enough, and no power strong enough to escape accountability.
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