A regional trial court in Pampanga has ordered the transfer of detention of accused police officers in the kidnapping and killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo in October 2016.
In a four-page order, a copy of which furnished to the Department of Justice, Judge Erin Zenaida Buan of Angeles City, Pampanga, RTC Branch 56, granted the motion of government prosecutors for the transfer of Superintendent Rafael Dumlao III, Senior Police Officer 2 Ricky Sta. Isabel and Jerry Umlang to the Angeles City Jail.
The court cited a practical reason in ordering the transfer of Dumlao from the Philippine National Police custodial center in the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City and of Sta. Isabel and Umlang from the National Bureau of Investigation custodial center in Manila.
“Considering the distance between this Court and the PNP Custodial center as well as the NBI detention facility, it would be more practical for the accused to be detained at the city jail in order to facilitate their attendance during court hearings of their cases,” the RTC ruling stated. Rey E. Requejo
The court said that an accused should be detained at the nearest police station under Section 3, Rule 113 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
It also cited Circular No. 76-2010 of the Office of the Court Administrator of Supreme Court “which clearly prohibits lower court from ordering the detention of an accused at the PNP custodial center.”
The court also turned down the claim of the accused, particularly of Sta. Isabel, that he had to stay in the NBI custody due to threats against his life – which the court said he has failed to prove.
The court issued the order upon motion by the DOJ panel led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera last June.
The prosecutors argued that such set-up, which was approved by the former judge who handled the case but inhibited last March – RTC Branch 58 Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. – in May last year, “is not in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations governing inmates undergoing a trial of their cases.”
The prosecutors argued that any accused who is already facing trial before the court should be detained in a facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Dumlao, Sta. Isabel and Omlang are three of the accused facing kidnapping for ransom with homicide case before the RTC.
The two other accused are Gerardo “Ding” Santiago, owner of the Gream Funeral Services where the body of the victim was brought, and SPO4 Roy Villegas, who turned into state witness for the prosecutors.
Jee was abducted on Oct.18, 2016 and killed inside Camp Crame. An alleged victim of the so-called “Tokhang for ransom,” his body was not recovered and reportedly cremated and flushed in the toilet.
