An inmate at the New Bilibid Prison and the wife of another have linked the chief of the Bureau of Corrections’ Inmates Document Processing Division to extortion in exchange for good conduct time allowances that would precipitate their early release.
According to Emil Sumangil’s report on “24 Oras” which was beamed nationwide, inmate Charlie said he was asked by division chief Ramoncito Roque and his subordinates, known by their aliases Boday and Mabel, to turn in P50,000 so his GCTA papers could be facilitated.
“They were the ones who suggested the amount… P50,000,” Charlie said in Filipino, adding “I would be freed.”
The P50,000 fee was delivered at Roque’s residence.
“The next day, Roque’s people called me up and said ‘you give P50,000, according to the boss, so it would be all over. My wife said, let’s give the amount to end it all. They went to the office, I wanted at the restaurant, my wife shuffled in, and they said give the amount in the house so there would not be any suspicions,” Charlie was quoted as saying in Filipino.
Roque was reported to be the signatory in the documents pertaining to the inmates’ GCTA credits.
Charlie also claimed having talked to Roque’s deputy chief, Ruperto Traya Jr., the BuCor official killed outside his home in Muntinlupa in August.
According to a probe by Muntinlupa Police, Traya was in charge of collecting and filing GCTA documents but was not the signatory for these.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III has sought an investigation into the circumstances regarding Traya’s killing amid the GCTA controversy.
The wife of another inmate Lydia corroborated Charlie’s story.
Like in Charlie’s case, Lydia’s husband had only been in jail for a few years but received an offer from Roque’s group to process his GCTA documents.
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