A corrections officer has denied that he has been relieved of his post for alleged involvement in an attempt to smuggle contraband at the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro last July 2.

CTInsp. Edgar A. Laudencia, through his wife and lawyer Jennifer R. Garcia-Laudencia, wrote the Manila Bulletin to deny the report that came out in its July 10 article that the corrections officer was relieved and was being investigated for the incident.

“Your information, what you reported is wrong and baseless,” the lawyer told this reporter in the letter.

She said the news report “clearly destroyed the name of my husband and reputation of my husband who happens to be an active church minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP).”

The July 10 Manila Bulletin news article was based on the press statement issued by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on the same day.

“Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. has relieved a camp commander and another commissioned officer of their duties at the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro following a foiled attempt to smuggle contraband into the corrections facility,” the press release stated.

“The individuals relieved are C/CInsp. Francisco Madrid, the camp commander, and CT/Insp. Edgar Laudencia. They are now at the Directorate for Personnel and Human Resource Development at the National Headquarters in Muntinlupa City for further investigation,” it also stated.

The press statement also stated that the contraband was found inside a dump truck that was spotted inside the prison facility.

The contraband included 213 bottles of one-liter Ginebra San Miguel, 48 bottles of 700 milliliters of Ginebra San Miguel, 16 bottles of one-liter Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, two bottles of 700-ml Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, 30 reams of Marlboro cigarettes with 10 packs per ream, 69 reams of tobacco with 10 packs per ream, 10 packs of tobacco with six bricks per pack, and 37 sticks of tobacco.

Citing reports submitted by BuCor officials to Catapang about the incident, lawyer Laudencia said her husband’s name “was never mentioned nor written in any document, he was not in any way involved and proper investigation for the said incident is yet to be commenced.”

“As you will see, the name of CTInsp. Edgar A. Laudencia was never mentioned nor stated,” she stressed as she cited the reports.

She also said she was able to secure a copy of the order that relieved SPPF personnel involved in the incident but “my husband’s name was not mentioned therein.”

She noted that she has sent a letter to Catapang to rectify the contents of BuCor’s press release that was distributed to the media.

“But to date no action has been taken on the matter,” she lamented.