Cotabato City jail warden relieved over inmates' escape

KIDAPAWAN CITY — The jail warden of Cotabato City was relieved from his post following the escape of 16 inmates Wednesday midnight. The relief order of Inspector Buenaventura Pedrita had come from Senior Superintendent Romeo Ugoy, regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Southwest Mindanao a day after the inmates' escape. Pedrita was replaced by Chief Inspector Fulgencio Branden, chief of staff of the BJMP-12. In an interview over radio station dxMS in Cotabato City, Pedrita denied allegations that he had refused to allow inmates to do communal prayer during Fridays inside the facility. He said that praying inside the facility doesn’t need his permission. "Those were baseless allegations," Pedrita said. An inmate who escaped but who was subsequently recaptured — Danny Herbias — made the allegation. The 15 other inmates remain at large. At the same time, Pedrita denied reports that some of the jail guards have been manhandling the detainees. The jail, he said, is overcrowded and the budget for BJMP in Cotabato City is not enough to support the needs of the prisoners. The Cotabato City jail holds about 260 inmates facing charges of murder, drug trafficking and weapons possession. — Malu Cadelina Manar/RSJ, GMANews.TV