City government to file complaint vs CdO jail officers who threatened health workers

Mayor Oscar Moreno said that the city government here would file criminal and administrative complaints against officers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) who harassed and threatened 3 city medical technologists.

Medical technologists Muriel Melchor, Ria Trixie Asequia and Rachel Angeli Mutia of the city health department went to the city jail on September 10, in Barangay Lumbia here to conduct re-swab collection for BJMP personnel JO3 Morris Ybañez, JO1 Michael Waga and JO1 Shaun Bangot.

The jail officers were in quarantine after being exposed to a COVID-19 patient in the city jail.

In their statement to the police, the 3 med techs said they were in the isolation facility of the jail collecting the swab samples of the BJMP officers when one of them named Ybañez asked for the result of his first swab.

Melchor told Ybañez that it would take 3 days to get the result of the first swabbing. Melchor said Ybañez replied in an arrogant manner that it had been 6 days since they were in isolation. While talking to the med techs, Ybañez was puffing cigarette smoke at Melchor’s face.

Ybañez said that the ones who took their first sample were ‘inutile.’ Melchor told Ybañez that they were the same ones who took their specimen. “Are you saying we are inutile?” Melchor said.

Melchor said that they heard the sound of guns clicking. One of the jail officers who was holding a gun then said: “You got a sharp tongue.”

Mayor Moreno got mad when he heard about the incident. “We will not take this sitting down. Who do they think they are?” he said.

Moreno said that the city government was doing everything to address the challenges of SARS-CoV-2. “We treat them (LSI/ROFs/APOR) like they are ambassadors, we fetch them from where they land, we provided food and proper isolation and we get threatened like this?” Moreno said.

Moreno said that the city police and fiscal’s office would handle the complaints. “And as warranted, administrative (cases will be filed) and we forwarded the case into our legal department to look into that,” Moreno added.

Moreno said that what the jail officers did was an abuse of power and it could not be tolerated. – Rappler.com