SEVEN jail guards at the Bureau of Corrections have been relieved by Chief Gregorio Catapang pending the result of an investigation into the controversial strip search.
Pulled out from their duties were Correction Officers 1 Karen Soriano, Kiera Iket, Odesa Etong, Ahmor Darasin, Guada Bello, Melowyne Tallongan, and Angelique Domingo, for inappropriate strip searches at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City recently.
They will be placed under “floating status” at the NBP’s Superintendent’s Office.
Chief Insp. Ruben Formoso, OIC- Acting NBP Superintendent, said the investigation would focus on how the personnel conducted their strip search, whether they violated the protocol on the conduct of strip searches being implemented by the bureau.
Formal complaints have been lodged with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against specific jail guards at the NBP for allegedly subjecting wives of political prisoners to “degrading and traumatic” strip searches.
Despite affirming that they did not posses illegal substances or weapons, the complainants said they were still subjected to strip searches by the guards “under orders from higher authorities.”
In one of the incidents, a senior citizen underwent a cavity search allegedly within the visiting area of the NBP Maximum Security Compound.
Fides Lim, spokesperson for Kapatid, a support group for families of political prisoners, stressed the need for an investigation into the ordeal that the wives experienced.
