25 September 2013 - Ambassador Nestor Z. Ochoa and other officials of the Philippine Embassy in Brunei Darussalam visited Filipino inmates at the Jerudong prison on September 15 to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidul Fitri.

Ambassador Ochoa was accompanied during the prison visit by Minister and Consul Celeste Vinzon Balatbat, assistance-to-nationals (ATN) Officer and Attaché Raul C. Villanueva, Labor Attaché Anna C. Dione, Defense Attaché Col. Carlos B. Cepe, SSS Representative Jessielyn M. Cabungcag, Pag-IBIG Representative Arlina D. Feliciano, OWWA Administrative Assistant Edgar C. Miano, and Administrative Assistant T/Sgt. Isidro M. Diola, Jr. of the Office of the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché.

The prison visit is an annual tradition of the Philippine Embassy in Brunei to look into the individual needs of the Filipino inmates, to provide them with personal hygiene items, to obtain updates on the dates of their release and to convey personal messages to their families in Brunei and in the Philippines.

Embassy officials brought with them food requested by the Filipino inmates to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidul Fitri.

All Filipino detainees were found to be in good health and in high spirits.

During the visit to Jerudong Prison, the Sultanate’s main correctional facility, the Embassy delegation was met by prison officials led by the Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Haji Saadar, who provided a briefing on the prison facilities and answered queries from Embassy officials.

Before departing, Embassy officials expressed their gratitude to His Majesty’s Government, to OIC Saadar, as well as to all the officers and staff of the Jerudong prison for their kind and humane treatment of Filipino inmates.

There are 12 Filipino inmates presently detained at the Jerudong Prison for various offenses, while three Filipino inmates are detained at the Maraburong Prison. END