By NORA SORIÑO
GSD-Iligan Bureau chief
ILIGAN City–A regional judge has ordered detained Mayor Celso Regencia transferred to a prison facility in Cagayan de Oro, sparking unrest among the politician’s supporters here.
The order was issued by Judge Marissa Estabaya of the 44th branch of the Regional Trial Court in Initao, Misamis Oriental, Iligan Councilor Emmanuel Salibay confirmed yesterday.
Salibay said Estabaya ordered the detained mayor moved to the Misamis Oriental capitolun prison facility in downtown Cagayan de Oro.
He said the order was addressed to the warden of the Iligan city jail in Tipanoy where Mayor Regencia is under detention in connection with the Dec. 11, 2014 ambush of Rep. Vicente Belmonte.
At presstime, the city jail is being swamped by Regencia’s supporters who has gone to the extent of setting up barricades on the road in an effort to prevent moves to transfer the detained mayor.
This paper tried to get comments from the Misamis Oriental capitol yesterday but neither its public information officer nor its media consultant could be reached.
But Dominador Tagarda, the provincial jail warden, has issued a March 7, 2016 certification, stating that the Misamis Oriental jail is already “highly congested,” and could not guarantee the security and safety of a “high-profile” detainee like Regencia.
Tagarda said he issued the certification on the request of lawyer Leo Zaragoza.
Salibay said Judge Estabaya issued the order in Feb. 18 but the Iligan city jail warden only received it by mail on Monday.
Lawyers of Regencia said they were suprised to learn that the court ordered the transfer of Regencia, saying they did not receive copies of the court document.
Zaragoza, one of Regencia’s lawyers, assailed the court order, calling it “illegal.”
Zaragoza pointed out that Regencia earlier filed a motion to make the judge inhibit from hearing the case because of perceived partiality.
When the judge denied the motion, Zaragoza said, they asked the court to reconsider.
Zaragoza asserted that the judge cannot take up another issue such as the transfer of the detainee to another prison facility within a 15-day period unless there is already a ruling on the motion for reconsideration.
He said the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier filed a petition to transfer Regencia to a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Initao town, and not Cagayan de Oro.
Zaragoza also said Regencia should not be moved to the provincial jail because the Misamis Oriental facility is “only for the convicted.”
He said jail warden Tagarda told him that the capitolun prison facility was built for an inmate population of 200 “but right now, they have 585 inmates.”
Zaragoza said he suspected that the move to transfer Regencia to a Cagayan de Oro prison “is just a political maneuver” of the mayor’s political enemies so they could take over city hall again.
Another Regencia supporter, lawyer Vermin Quimco, called on the Iligan jail warden “to obey only legal orders.”
Quimco said jail warden Omar Jalagat confided to him that there was “much pressure.”
Regencia has remained as the recognized mayor of the city despite his detention after he secured a court injunction.
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