Court puts Bella in Naga jail

JUDGE Ester Veloso of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6 yesterday ordered Bella Ruby Santos detained at the City of Naga jail while the kidnapping with homicide case against her and British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths is being tried. A Naga jail official assured that Santos will not be afforded special treatment. Veloso’s order came after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Special Investigator Arnel Pura sought a commitment order from the judge, a day after Santos arrived in Cebu after her arrest in Manila last Oct. 7. “You will receive and safely keep the accused in your custody, subject to the order of the court for the duration of the case,” Veloso told the Naga jail warden in a one-page order. NBI operatives accompanied Santos to the RTC and secured a commitment order from the judge past 9 a.m. yesterday. Safety Naga City Assistant Jail Warden Pidie Hitalada told reporters that Santos will be treated like all inmates in the facility. He also assured her safety. Hitalada admitted, though, that like other detention facilities in the country, the Naga jail is overcrowded. The Naga jail houses 91 inmates—87 males and four females—but its capacity is only 60. Even as she was being ushered to her cell at the City of Naga jail at 9:40 a.m., Santos looked every bit a fashionista. She wore the same light-brown blazer she had on upon arriving at the Mactan Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City last Monday afternoon. She was made to turn over her jewelry to jail authorities for safekeeping, though, before she was led to her cell. Still, she was all smiles on entering the female cell of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Naga. High profile Hitalada said they consider Santos a “high-profile prisoner” but “not a security threat.” Still, he added, they will not loosen their guard. Santos is the fourth female prisoner in the facility. She took the upper bunk on the double-deck bed in the female cell. Santos told reporters she has “positive” and “negative” feelings about being detained in Naga. “Positive, because I am near my family. They can easily visit me. (But) negative because the jail is too small,” she said. Her relatives are glad because they can visit her often. “Naga jail is more accessible. We can visit her day or night since we also leave here,” Perla Erediano, Santos’s mother, told reporters. She said in jest that she can even play card games with Santos. Arrest Erediano told Sun. Star Cebu that her daughter had no intention to become a fugitive. Santos eluded arrest for about three months after the court issued a warrant for her arrest in July, in relation to the kidnapping and slay of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique. Pura told the court that they arrested Santos last Friday at a mall in Ortigas, Metro Manila. In the NBI’s return of warrant report, Pura said Santos initially told law enforcers she was Lara Ebba Gonzales of Davao City, but she eventually admitted her true identity. Erediano said that before the warrant for Santos was issued, her daughter told her she was going out of town for a vacation. When Santos was away, she called her mother several times to say she was all right. Renante, father of Ellah Joy, said he will check on Santos’s “situation” at the jail. He said if he had his way, he would have wanted Santos brought to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC). Pique said he will respect the court’s decision. But, he added, it is possible that his lawyers will file a motion for reconsideration, requesting the judge to place Santos in CPDRC. “Di nako mangaway niya. Kun kinsa nalay swertihon (I won’t quarrel with him anymore. We’ll just see who has the better luck),” Santos said on Pique. Santos’ arraignment is scheduled on Oct. 24. Hitalada said Santos’s relatives and friends can visit her every day from 1 to 5 p.m., except on Monday. Related story: Ellah’s father appeals: Treat suspect like ordinary detainee