MANILA — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) has admitted that detained former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has a personal aide staying with him inside the New Quezon City Jail, citing his unstable mental condition and humanitarian considerations.
Jail warden Lourdes Pacion confirmed the arrangement during a Sandiganbayan hearing on Thursday while categorically denying allegations that the Leyte lawmaker had been secretly leaving detention aboard an ambulance.
“He has personal staff to help him in his daily needs,” Pacion told the court.
She justified the arrangement, saying Romualdez required additional assistance that the jail’s existing personnel could not adequately provide.
“I allowed it because his mental state is not yet stable per my assessment. We cannot hire more personnel to attend to the personal needs of Congressman Romualdez,” Pacion said.
“We are allowing personal staff to stay inside the jail for humanitarian consideration, or if the patient is not in good condition, because we cannot attend to all personal needs of the patient,” she added.
Pacion, however, firmly rejected allegations by columnist Ramon “Mon” Tulfo that Romualdez had been making unauthorized trips outside the detention facility.
“We categorically deny that information, your honor. Since the commitment of Congressman Romualdez [in detention], he stays in his room (cell). Once in a while he goes in the sunny area [of the detention facility]. For court hearings, he goes to the court room [provided by the facility],” she said.
“He did not go out riding an ambulance or any other vehicle,” Pacion added.
Tulfo subsequently retracted his allegations, acknowledging that his information was inaccurate.
“I was fed the wrong report that former speaker Martin Romualdez could go in and out of jail,” Tulfo said.
Romualdez’s lawyers welcomed the retraction but maintained that the allegations had already tarnished their client’s reputation.
“That was very damaging to our client because it has the tendency to inflame the public,” the defense lawyers said.
The Sandiganbayan sought clarification from jail authorities following the controversy over Romualdez’s detention arrangements, which brought both his alleged unauthorized movements and the presence of a personal aide inside the facility under scrutiny./PN
