BJMP warden: Ampatuans can't do a Leviste

Detained members of the Ampatuan clan and other suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case will not be able to replicate the feat of former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste, who slipped out of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) last week but was arrested immediately. This was the assurance of Chief Inspector Glenford Valdepeñas, jail warden of the Quezon City Jail Annex inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where a total 90 arrested suspects in the high-profile case are detained. "Hindi puwede iyang ganyan dito (We don't give those kind of privileges)," Valdepeñas said, referring to "living out" and "sleep out" privileges being awarded to some prisoners at the NBP, as in the case of Leviste, a convicted killer. Leviste, a sleep-out prisoner living in his own bamboo hut at the reservation area of the 300-hectare NBP compound, slipped out of the penitentiary last week and managed to visit his office in Makati City. He claimed he was to see his dentist. Leviste was convicted of homicide and was sentenced to a six to 12-year prison term. Living-out prisoners are those staying at the two-hectare minimum security facility of the NBP and are allowed to roam free inside the compound between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. On the other hand, a sleep-out is a privilege given to minimum security inmates who are 65 years old or above and with a short time left of their prison term. Sleep-out prisoners are no longer required to return to the minimum security facility and are instead allowed to build their own houses – usually bamboo huts called kubol, where they can spend their entire day in. But Valdepeñas said the QC Jail Annex in Taguig City does not award any such privileges to their prisoners, especially because all of them are considered "maximum security" inmates. Aside from the Ampatuan massacre suspects, other inmates being detained there are suspected terrorists and members of the Abu Sayyaf, the warden said. Currently detained at the jail facility in Taguig are six prominent members of the Ampatuan clan — patriarch Andal Sr; his sons Andal Jr, Rizaldy, and Sajid; and their relatives Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan Sr and Anwar Ampatuan Sr. Apart from them, a number of local policemen and members of the Ampatuan clan's private army is also detained at the jail facility. Families of the victims have repeatedly asked the government to allow them to conduct a surprise visit at the detention cell to ensure that the massacre suspects are still staying in prison. The court on Wednesday has already allowed them to do such a visit, provided that they coordinate with the jail warden. — LBG/KBK, GMA News