Romualdez’s jail cell awaits
We don’t have the authority to intercept them before an arrest warrant is issued, so it is always telegraphed.
Text size
We don’t have the authority to intercept them before an arrest warrant is issued, so it is always telegraphed.
Former House Speaker and incumbent Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez could end up sharing a cell with other detainees, including fellow high-profile figures, if he is transferred to the Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas.
Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada are detained at the facility and are reportedly in separate cells with other detainees.
The jail is preparing for Romualdez’s arrival following his arrest on a Sandiganbayan warrant. For now, however, he is under hospital arrest at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City.
At the QC Jail Male Dormitory Building A, each cell can accommodate up to 10 persons deprived of liberty (PDL). The facility is about 80 percent occupied, with 14 vacant cells.
This means Romualdez could be placed in a cell with other detainees rather than given a private room, depending on jail officials’ assessment and available space.
Building B, meanwhile, is unoccupied and can accommodate up to 3,000 PDLs.
Should he be transferred, Romualdez would receive the same basic provisions as other PDLs, including regular meals and drinking water. The facility also provides 24-hour in-house medical services.
The daily food allocation has been increased from P70 to P100 per PDL. Family visits are allowed, with two to five visitors permitted at a time in designated areas. Relatives may also bring cooked food, subject to inspection, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., except Monday and Friday.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he had instructed Bureau of Jail Management and Penology director Efren Nemeño to prepare a cell for Romualdez.
Nemeño confirmed to DAILY TRIBUNE that he had been instructed by Remulla to make the necessary preparations.
Remulla said the authorities cannot stop a suspect from seeking medical attention before an arrest warrant is issued.
“That’s the difficult part. We don’t have the authority to intercept them before an arrest warrant is issued, so it is always telegraphed. Once a case is filed, they know it has been raffled off, so they get ahead of us,” Remulla said Tuesday at Camp Crame.
“In this case, it only happened with Speaker Martin. With former Secretary Bonoan, we saw his condition here in detention, he did not go directly to the hospital. The same was true with Senator Marcoleta, we saw his condition here, not at the hospital. Only the Speaker went directly to the hospital,” he said.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division is set to hear Romualdez’s manifestation for hospital confinement and urgent motion for continued hospital confinement under custody on Thursday, 10 September at 8:30 a.m.
The court has subpoenaed his attending physicians and ordered Romualdez to appear if his medical condition permits.
For now, the cell prepared for the former Speaker remains empty. But if the court orders his transfer, Romualdez could trade his hospital room for a shared cell, where as many as 10 detainees may be housed.
