PNP returns Taguba to NBI custody

Alleged Customs fixer Mark Ruben Taguba II is back in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after the Philippine National Police (PNP) refused to take him in despite a court order.

Taguba, who allegedly brokered the release of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China, arrived at the PNP headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Tuesday afternoon.

Police stopped Taguba and his NBI escorts at the gate of the PNP Custodial Center, according to NBI spokesman Director Ferdinand Lavin.

Taguba was sent back to the NBI at around 7 p.m., Lavin said.

In turning down Taguba, the PNP cited a 2010 circular issued by the Supreme Court’s Office of the Administrator, which prohibits courts from ordering the transfer of prisoners to police custody.

Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, spokesman for the PNP, said Taguba should be transferred to detention facilities under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Taguba is facing charges of drug importation filed by the Department of Justice in connection with the shabu shipment, which slipped through the Bureau of Customs in May last year.

Last week, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 ordered the transfer of Taguba to the PNP.

Sought for comment, Taguba’s lawyer Raymond Fortun said he wondered why the PNP refused to detain Taguba despite a court order.

Taguba had asked Manila RTC Branch 46 Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa not to detain him in the city jail supposedly due to threats to his life.

Taguba claimed that a government official wanted him killed inside the city jail.

In ordering Taguba’s transfer to the PNP, the court said he should not be detained at the NBI because it is not an authorized custodial unit.