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National

BUNGALOW | BuCor readies Pemberton detention quarters inside Camp Aguinaldo

Homicide convict Joseph Scott Pemberton. File photograph from Philippine Star.

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - From a modified 20-footer container van, the homicide convict US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton will soon be transferred to a "bungalow-type" detention quarters renovated and retrofit to US jail facility standards, where he is to serve his prison term.

Pemberton was sentenced to 6 to 12 years imprisonment for the homicide death in Olongapo City of the Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude.

In a telephone interview, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III indicated: "Malaking kulungan 'yun e, it can accommodate ... mga 50 (katao) ang kasya dun (It's an expansive place, large enough to accommodate as many as 50 persons)."

He said Pemberton has been assigned a "prison number" but could not immediately give what number it was that the convict is wearing.

The detention facility for Pemberton, which is categorized as minimum security, is situated inside Camp Aguinaldo, the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) located in Quezon City.

"Actually, gawa na 'yun, konting upgrade na lang siguro, mga painting work, tapos dagdagan ng security features, mga CCTV (cameras), tinanggal kasi namin dati (It's actually built, with just a few upgrades and finishing touches needed, plus the reactivation of additional security features, which have previously been removed)," Cruz said.

Aside from security cameras, the detention facility will also have barbed wire fencing with six jail guards on duty across three shifts 24/7.

The facility used to be part of the detention facility of rebel officers and soldiers involved in unsuccessful coups d'etat against the previous administration of detained former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Asked if the facility would be furnished with air conditioning, Cruz said he understands only "electric fans" are allowed to be installed but he declined to speculate, adding only that "international standards" have prescribed temperature ranges.

Cruz said he is to take a look at the detention facility next week.

He said the retrofits and refurbishment of the facility is partly funded by BuCor and the Department of National Defense (DND), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) shouldered other expenses.

The US government also volunteered some money, Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Pemberton, like a common detainee, will be receiving from BoCur a P50 per day meal allowance that would be given on a monthly basis.

But he said Bucor also allows family members, relatives, visitors and visitors to bring food for Pemberton, just like any other detainee.

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