A judge on Saturday inspected the municipal jail in Banga, South Cotabato to validate reports of “special treatment” being enjoyed by detained Mayor Albert Palencia.
Judge Lorenzo Balo of South Cotabato’s Regional Trial Court Branch 26 told reporters Palencia, detained for possession of a shoulder-fire grenade projectile found by anti-narcotics agents in his piggery, is locked in a cell just like an ordinary offender.
“There is no truth to circulating stories he is getting special treatment from his custodians,” Balo said.
Palencia, long touted as a drug lord, is reportedly included in Malacañang’s latest list of politicians allegedly involved in large-scale drug trafficking.
Balo initiated the surprise inspection of the detention facility of the Banga municipal police after receiving reports that Palencia is not confined in any of the cells there.
It is Balo who will litigate the case investigators filed against Palencia in connection with his alleged possession of a rifle-propelled grenade.
A team of agents led by Superintendent Maximo Sebastian, chief of the anti-illegal drugs unit of the Police Regional Office-12, recovered the explosive in Palencia’s piggery adjacent to his house in a raid before dawn Wednesday.
Sebastian and his men were to search for methamphetamine hydrochloride, most known as shabu, in the compound of Palencia, but founding nothing.
Besides the grenade, the raiding team also found in the mayor’s house four rounds of metal-jacketed bullets for a .380 small self-loading handgun.
Relatives of Palencia had called on the police to let them observe the mayor while in detention, worried he could be killed in the pretext of either attempting to escape, or for grappling the gun of any of the policemen guarding him in shifts.
Palencia’s lawyers have petitioned the RTC Branch 26 to allow him to post bail.
His political supporters are apprehensive of his safety while inside the Banga police detention facility.
The post No VIP Treatment for Alleged Narco-Mayor Detained at South Cotabato Jail appeared first on The Philippine Star
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