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ZAMBOANGA CITY: Police arrested a former Filipino lawmaker who
walked out of prison in Muntinlupa and flew by plane to his
hometown in Zamboanga del Norte province.
The Department of Justice ordered an
investigation into what officials are calling an “escape”
Saturday night from the New Bilibid Prison by former Congressman
Romeo Jalosjos, convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl and
sentenced to serve two life terms. He flew home the same day.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Sunday that
he ordered the immediate arrest of Jalosjos because he can still be
considered as a fugitive, since he went out of prison without
authority from the department.
“He is back in Zamboanga Penal Colony,”
Gonzalez said, referring to the former lawmaker. Jalosjos is
expected to remain there until the Justice department decides what
to do next.
“I ordered for his arrest, because we consider
him a fugitive,” the secretary added.
However, Gonzalez evaded questions about how
Jalosjos managed to escape from the national penitentiary.
“Let’s not talk about his release, because
he was never released,” Gonzalez said. “I ordered a thorough
investigation on the matter, but I can’t tell you right now the
scope of the investigation or how far it would go.”
The Bureau of Corrections, which is in command
of the national penitentiary, will likely be a focus of the probe.
Earlier, Bureau Director Ricardo Dapat had signed a release for
Jalosjos. On December 16—the day before he was to be set
free—Gonzalez stopped the order signed Dapat.
In the days that followed, Jalosjos argued that
he had served his time, and he considered himself a free man, the
former lawmaker told journalists who interviewed him in prison.
Gonzalez, apparently irked by the statements,
issued a gag order on the former lawmaker. The secretary pointed out
that there is a pending issue before the Board of Pardon and Parole
as to the computation of Jalosjos’ Good Conduct Time Allowance.
Jalosjos contends he has served his time,
considering the time credits he earned planting trees and counseling
other prisoners. Justice department officials dispute his
computation.
The Board of Pardon and Parole referred the
matter to the Legal Department of the Justice department headed by
Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras.
Jalosjos has spent almost 11 years in jail,
including his detention at the Makati City Jail, where he was
detained pending his appeal.
Jalosjos was able to sit in Congress while in
jail. The House of Representatives allowed him to remain in office
even while under detention in the Tenth, 11th and early part of the
12th Congress. Jalosjos was dropped from the roster of Congress when
the Supreme Court affirmed his conviction in 2002.
Glimpse of freedom
When Jalosjos arrived in Dapitan City Saturday,
hundreds of supporters welcomed him like a hero. They also threw a
party for their former congressman, once an influential politician
in the province.
When he was arrested Sunday, Jalosjos insisted
he is a free man and his supporters blamed politics for the fiasco.
“He is freed. He is a free man. Leave him
alone. This is all politics,” Juanito San Diego, a supporter of
Jalosjos, said.
Jalosjos is said to be eyeing this early to run
for Congress again in the 2010 national elections. But with this
latest development, his political plan may be at risk.
It was unknown why was Jalosjos allowed to leave
the penintentiary despite a strict order from the government to hold
him.
Palace defers to Justice
President Gloria Arroyo will not intervene in
the Jalosjos case and will let the Department of Justice and the
court resolve the issue, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio
Apostol said Sunday.
On Sunday, Gonzalez said the relatives of
Jalosjos want him be transferred to former President Joseph
Estrada’s resthouse in Tanay, Rizal.
Gonzalez said he received information that
Jalosjos was having problems with Bureau of Corrections chief Dapat,
and so the relatives of the former lawmaker wanted him to be
detained in other facility.
But Gonzalez said he told the relatives of
Jalosjos that such arrangement is not possible since Tanay is not
under the bureau but under the Department of the Interior and Local
Government.
It was also reported on Sunday that the mother
of the former congressman appealed to President Arroyo to intervene
and free her son after he was arrested in Dapitan City on Saturday.
Apostol said he doesn’t want to comment
whether Malacańang supports Gonzalez’s arrest order to Jalosjos
over the weekend, adding that the Palace will leave everything to
the Justice department.
-- Jomar Canlas, Al Jacinto and Angelo S. Samonte
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