Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday directed the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms to transfer dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Diaz Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail.
Sotto clarified however, that Hernandez will remain under the Senate’s custody, and instructed the sergeant-at-arms to strictly regulate visits for the detainee.
The Senate President also ordered police Maj. Gen. Ma. O.R. Aplasca to keep a detailed log of all Hernandez’s visitors.
Hernandez was detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City after he implicated several lawmakers and DPWH officials in alleged anomalies involving the government’s flood-control projects.
Senator Rodante Marcoleta who was unseated as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee had questioned Sotto’s decision during yesterday’s Senate plenary session.
Sotto ordered the transfer of Hernandez to the PNP custody after the embattled engineer requested the House Tricomm committee not to return him to the Senate because of fears for his safety.
Hernandez was cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon on Monday after he repeatedly denied allegations about his visits to the casinos.
At the House of Representatives, Hernandez claimed that some senators, specifically Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva, were involved in the flood control scandal.
Marcoleta insisted that the House leadership should have the say on where Hernandez should be detained.
The Senate session was suspended for nearly an hour. Upon resumption, the motion to transfer Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail was made.
