Davide to Garcia during House probe: CPDRC ‘ably-managed’
THE situation inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) took centerstage Wednesday during the House justice panel's hearing in response to the call of Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia to investigate alleged anomalies inside the facility.
Several local officials of Cebu led by Governor Hilario Davie III attended the inquiry and defended themselves against accusations of mismanagement and abuse inside the provincial jail.
Garcia's twin resolutions aim to delve deep into the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs inside the CPDRC as well as the controversial raid last
February 28 that went viral following the strip search conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives among the inmates.
In his opening remark, Davide “thanked” Garcia for giving his administration the chance to air its position regarding the alleged mismanagement of CPDRC.
“I’d like to thank especially [Garcia]... Indeed this is an opportune time for the provincial government, whose behalf I will be speaking, to present...that the CPDRC is ably-managed,” Davide said.
According to the Cebu governor, the “evil that is drugs simply refuses to die” and that its existence within jail facilities is “not uncommon.”
“The problem of drugs existed not only during my administration. It had been there for many years. I’m sure that is not unique in the province of Cebu or CPDRC. Every jail has its own problem in drugs,” he said.
To flush out drugs within CPDRC, Davide said he instituted the following measures: – Intensified internal raids – An ordinance adopting the manual of operation and administration of the CPDRC, authored by Board Member Sun Shimura
Meanwhile, Davide defended his “friend” Mark Toral, an ex-inmate he appointed as jail consultant, from allegations that he was in cahoots with drug traders inside the CPDRC.
Prior to his appointment, Toral was convicted by a regional trial court to life imprisonment for violation of the dangerous drugs act but his jail term was cut short after the Court of Appeals reversed the decision. He only served seven years in jail.
“It is true that I got him as consultant for jail matters, similar to what Congresswoman Garcia did when she was governor when she got a brother as consultant of the CPDRC... [Toral was] a friend. I had trust in him. I had faith in him and I knew he was going to introduce reforms in the CPDRC, he said.
“It was just unfortunate that there were so many innuendos and rumors that alleged complicity at the CPDRC which forced me to ask for his resignation. But he had indeed introduced so many improvements at the CPDRC,” Davide added.