Iral named new BJMP head
PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte has appointed Allan S. Iral as chief of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced the promotion of Mr. Iral last March from jail chief superintendent to officer-in-charge of the BJMP. The DILG said in a press release that Mr. Iral had previously served as the regional director of the BJMP’s offices in Davao and Central Visayas. “I have come to know Chief Allan Iral as a man of competence… This is a grand responsibility not everyone can carry, but with your able hands and sharp mind, I am sure that the Bureau and those you oversee will thrive under your leadership,” DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año was quoted as saying. — Arjay L. Balinbin
NBI arrests 3 for illegal recruitment, estafa
THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday presented two individuals arrested in Quezon City and Valenzuela City for estafa and large scale illegal recruitment. In a press briefing, the NBI identified the subjects as Irmalyn Melodias-Torres and Gerald C. Melodias who were nabbed by virtue of an arrest warrant from a Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Lawyer Joel M. Tovera, chief of the NBI Anti-Organized Transnational Crime Division, said that based on records, the two were recruiting Filipinos to the US to work as domestic helpers and caregivers by allegedly using elderly Filipino US visa holders who pose as employers. “Pagdating sa US, ‘yon pong na-recruit nila ay dadalhin sa plano[ng] pagtra-trabahuhan at ‘yung elderly na nagdala sa kanila ro’n ay babalik na sa Pilipinas (After arriving in the US, the recruit will be brought to their respective planned jobs, while the elderly who accompanied them will return to the Philippines),” he said. The bureau said they received a letter last year from the US Embassy seeking assistance. Another individual was arrested for extortion and estafa of his business partner worth more than a million. The NBI identified in a press release the arrested individual as Ljubomir Calixterio Tamayo. The complainant, owner and managing partner of a manpower agency in Manila, said he was applying for a license at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and named Mr. Tamayo as his business partner as he was required to have at least one employee knowledgeable in the construction business. The NBI said Mr. Tamayo first borrowed P100,000 from the complainant without an acknowledgement receipt and in two instances borrowed a total amount of P160,000. Mr. Tamayo later asked for P1 million after submitting a proposal letter for a business marketing strategy and recruitment of domestic helpers in Luzon, but then lowered the amount to P250,000. This amount turned out to be not intended for the business. Earlier this month, the NBI said Mr. Tamayo went to the complainant’s office and demanded P2 million or else he will ask the POEA to cancel the agency’s license, to which the complainant offered P1 million out of fear. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
