MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) scrambled on Wednesday, February 28, to explain why it deferred admitting customs fixer Mark Taguba to its custodial center in Camp Crame.

What happened: The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 ordered Taguba transferred from the National Bureau of Investigation custodial center to Camp Crame for security reasons. (He had claimed there was a threat to his life at the Manila City Jail, so he stayed longer with the NBI.)

On Tuesday, February 27, however, he barred from entering Camp Crame. The PNP decided to enforce a Supreme Court Office of the Court Administrator (OCAD) order, discouraging courts from bringing non-PNP inmates into the camp’s high-security custodial center.

Why enforce SC-OCAD doctrine now? Bulalacao flip-flopped during the press conference. He initially said Taguba was not a “high-risk” or a “high-profile” suspect for the PNP to exempt him from the SC order, and to spend vast resources just to keep him.

After reporters asked why he is not considered a high-profile inmate despite being embroiled in a P6.4-billion drug smuggling controversy to which a presidential son has been linked, Bulalacao agreed that Taguba was indeed a high-profile inmate.

Pressed why Taguba was still not admitted to the PNP Custodial Center, Bulalacao declined to answer and referred reporters to the PNP’s Headquarters Support Group chief Chief Superintendent Phillip Phillips.

Phillips has been reached for comment.

Where should Taguba go? Bulalacao recommended to the NBI to bring Taguba to a high-security Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) detention facility. He suggested the BJMP Fort Bonifacio jail.

Other high-profile persons detained in Camp Crame include Senator Leila de Lima and former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. – Rappler.com