Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 29) — The Philippine National Police on Wednesday said jail officers were only following a court order when they temporarily released former Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog in November 2018.
Two branches of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, Branch 228 and Branch 95, are handling Parojinog’s illegal drugs and illegal possession of firearms cases
Judge Mitushealla Manzanero-Casiño of Branch 228 earlier asked the jail warden of the Custodial Center to explain why Parojinog was allowed to leave her detention cell on November 12, 2018 without the court’s knowledge
PNP Spokesperson PBGen Bernard Banac on Wednesday said there was actually written order from Branch 95 asking jail officers to implement Parojinog’s one-day medical furlough.
Upon the orders of Judge Edgardo Bellosillo, Parojinog was escorted to the Medical City in Pasig City to undergo dental x-ray, Banac said.
“Ang isinagawa lang ng PNP ay i-implement ang natanggap nitong order (All that the PNP did was to implement the order it has received),” Banac said.
“Since natanggap ng PNP ay isang valid na court order, agad tumalima ang PNP at isinagawa ito (Since the PNP received a valid court order, the PNP immediately complied with it),” Banac said, adding that reports of compliance were sent to the court.
Banac said Branch 95 also allowed Parojinog to visit her younger brother, Reynaldo, Jr. in Camp Bagong Diwa on December 23, 2019. This furlough was granted despite the objection of state prosecutors, who said there was no valid ground for her to enjoy a Christmas leave. The prosecutors even stressed it was tantamount to giving her preferential treatment.
The Parojinog siblings have been detained since 2017 over drug charges and illegal possession of firearms. Reynaldo, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2019.
The Parojinog patriarch, Reynaldo Sr., was Ozamiz City mayor when he and 14 other people were killed in a police operation in the Misamis Occidental city that year. Police have tagged the Parojinog family as the source of illegal drugs in the city, with President Rodrigo Duterte naming Nova Parojinog and her father and as among so-called narco-politicians operating in Mindanao.
Earlier, the Parojinog siblings were not allowed to attend the wake and burial of their parents in August 2017. Nova Parojinog has since denied any involvement in the killing of Edmundo Pintac, the Ozamiz regional trial court judge who denied their petition.
CNN Philippines’ Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
