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The victims accused the provincial jail officer of placing a
person who was plotting to kill them in the same cell as
them. The jail authorities also reportedly allowed the entry
into the detention facilities of persons who had links with
the policemen that they had accused of torturing them.
1.16. Activist Joselito Tobi, 11 died under suspicious circumstances
while being detained in Leyte Provincial Jail on 12 July
2006. he and his fellow detainee, Arniel Dizon, had been
receiving threats for a week prior to his death. however,
there had not been any thorough investigation as to the
cause of his death. his family was only told that he died of
food poisoning.
1.17. There have also been suspicious deaths in city jails under
the BJmP. In December 2005, three inmates, mary Jane
mancera, Vicente Abella 12 and Arthur Esquelona, 13 died
under suspicious circumstances at the general Santos
City Reformatory Centre (gSCRC). The BJmP conducted
their own investigation into these incidents and concluded
that the deaths were the result of diseases, even though
the victims’ dead bodies had injury marks. The local police
station, makar Police Station, under the general Santos City
Police Office (GSCPO), whose area of operation includes the
jail, has refused to investigate the incident invoking lack of
jurisdiction over the jail.
1.18. The lack of centralized and organized system for recording
the list detainees, for instance, between the DoJ and the
BJmP also results in problems, such as the former not
knowing that detainees in the custody of the latter are
being held without formal charges filed in court or for years
without trial. Pegie Boquecosa, 14 was held for six years at the
Sarangani Provincial Jail without trial. Zosimo C. mariado, 15
was held for months at the Quezon Provincial Jail without
charges having been filed against him in court. In such a
state of chaos, torture and the possibility of covering it up
becomes far easier.
1.19. No adequate compensation for torture: Should torture
victims decide to seek compensation, they can make
compensation claims through the Board of claims for victims
11 AHRC Urgent Appeals; UP-151-2006: Ombudsman’s failure to resolve cases
of murder, extra-judicial killings and torture, prevents police and military
from being charged.
12 AHRC Urgent Appeals; UP-01-2006: Two more inmates died at the General
Santos City Reformatory Centre in Mindanao.
13 AHRC Urgent Appeals; UA-242-2005: PHILIPPINES: Suspicious death of
an 18-year-old inmate in General Santos City, Mindanao.
14 AHRC-UAU-064-2008: A man is continuously held for six years without trial.
15 Please see further case details in Annex I, Case No. 3.
article 2 � June-Sept 2012 Vol. 11, No. 2-3
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