Andal Jr. causing fear among women detainees at NBI

Who wants to be in the same place where Andal Ampatuan Jr. is? Definitely not the women detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila. Unfortunately, they are just a few steps away from where the alleged mastermind of the Maguindanao massacre is.

“Magkalapit lang ‘yung mga selda nila. Mga four or five steps lang ang pagitan ng mga selda. Natatakot nga ‘yun mga babae. (Their detention cells are adjacent, about four or five steps away from each other. The women are afraid of him)," said Myrna Reblando, wife of Manila Bulletin reporter Alejandro Reblando, one of the 57 people who were slaughtered in Ampatuan, Maguindanao more than a month ago. Myrna, who visited Andal Jr.'s cell on Thursday to check if authorities were indeed giving special treatment to the massacre suspect, said she saw how the Datu Unsay mayor was causing fear among the female detainees. “Palagi kasing nakatindig si Unsay (Andal Jr.) doon. Nagpapahangin. Nagtabing na nga ng tela ‘yung mga babae doon para hindi sila makita ni Unsay (Andal Jr. usually stands up there to get fresh air. The women detainees have to cover their cell with a piece of cloth so that Unsay won't see them)," she told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Harry Roque, counsel to some of the families of the massacre victims, said he and Myrna went to the NBI headquarters after he was told that Andal Jr. was sharing a common area with female detainees. “We saw that Unsay was being allowed to go to this common area where he could have more access to the women. When we went there, we saw that he was being given special treatment since he was alone in his cell and not with other male detainees," Roque said in a separate phone interview with GMANews.TV. NBI spokesperson Ricardo Diaz, meanwhile, defended the bureau’s decision to separate Andal Jr. from the other male detainees. “Kung isasama natin siya sa ibang mga may kaso, baka masaksak o masaktan pa iyan. Mako-compromise ang security niya at ‘yung kaso (He could be stabbed or get hurt if he would be with other detainees.) His security and the case will be compromised," Diaz told GMANews.TV in another phone interview. Although Andal Jr.’s holding cell is adjacent to that of the female detainees, it is impossible for the suspect to get close to the women, according to Diaz. “Magkahiwalay sila. Walang basis ‘yung balita na magkakasama sila. Hindi naman ‘yun gagawin ng matinong may katungkulan. Hindi siya makakalapit dahil rehas at pader ang pagitan nila (Andal Jr. and the women detainees are in separate cells. Reports that they are in one cell have no basis. No competent person in authority will do that. Andal Jr. cannot get close to the women because they are separated by bars and walls)," he said. Diaz likewise maintained that Andal Jr. “is being given very ordinary treatment" and “is being held in a regular lock-up." - ARCS/KBK, GMANews.TV