Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Thursday announced that he will be taking over the supervision and management of Bureau of Corrections following the resurgence of illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.
In Department Order No. 505, Aguirre said he “shall directly supervise the management and operations of the BuCor, which are not within the ministerial powers of its officer-in-charge.”
”The concerned officials and employees of BuCor are directed to submit and bring the undersigned’s attention all matters that are beyond the authority of the BuCor officer-in-charge,” the directive said.
Aguirre exercises administrative supervision of BuCor, an attached agency of the Department of Justice.
His decision came following the irrevocable resignation of BuCor chief Benjamin delos Santos last July 13 and the recent appointment of Rey Ragaas as officer-in-charge of the bureau that supervises the NBP and other penal colonies nationwide.
The order is effective immediately and remains in force until further orders or until a new BuCor director general is appointed.
Upon assuming the duties of the top BuCor post, Aguirre led another surprise inspection at NBP Thursday morning that again led to the confiscation of various contrabands.
The Philippine National Police Special Action Force has also replaced its contingency that has guarded the national penitentiary since last year.
In an interview, Aguirre also cited the issue involving BuCor's contract with Mang Kiko, the food supplier for inmates in NBP.
“When the previous administration here in BuCor under director general Ben delos Santos disqualified Mang Kiko as supplier in NBP, there should be public bidding for the replacement,” he said.
“For me, the process for selection of new supplier and the bidding should have been pursued. If only Ben delos Santos did not resign, then that should have been completed,” Aguirre lamented.
Aguirre and Delos Santos are brothers in the Lex Taliones fraternity in San Beda College law school, along with President Duterte.
Delos Santos, a retired police general who served the BuCor for eight months since his appointment in November last year, resigned from his post saying the resurgence of drug trade has made him irrelevant.
Aguirre directed NBI Director Dante Gierran to determine how the illegal drug trade returned and file the appropriate administrative and criminal cases against those responsible.
The Department of Justice chief has confirmed the resurgence of illegal drug trade in the NBP and bared plans to replace the contingency of the SAF guarding the national penitentiary.
Aguirre cited the possibility that some members of SAF have been tainted by the huge amount of money involved, adding that he would seek an investigation on the matter.
Aguirre said a high-profile inmate continued his illegal drug trade operations despite a crackdown by the BuCor and that there are “new leaders” who joined the trade.
At the same time, Aguirre has turned down the request of some high-profile inmates in New Bilibid Prison who testified against detained Senator Leila de Lima to remain in the medium security compound.
Aguirre also downplayed reports that the witnesses had threatened to recant their testimonies in the drug cases against De Lima.
“The transfer of the high-profile inmates back to the maximum security compound will push through. I already issued the department order where I said they should be transferred immediately, but apparently the officers here did not abide by my order,” Aguirre said, after a surprise inspection.
Aguirre's order covered inmates earlier transferred to the medium security compound, including Vicente Sy, Jojo Baligad, and Peter Co, who all testified against Sen. De Lima before the House of Representatives inquiry on proliferation of illegal drugs in the NBP.
The Justice Secretary said that he does not believe the reported threat from the inmates that they would retract their statements against De Lima.
“That is a misinformation campaign in the media by the other camp,” he said.
Francis Acejas III, who introduced himself as lawyer of Sy, Baligad, and Co in a press conference in Manila last Wednesday, said there is a possibility of the witnesses recanting their statements.
“That [recantation] could be a possibility and that would be rather disastrous in a manner of speaking because if these witnesses will not cooperate then the privileges under the Witness Protection Program will be taken away from them. But what about the government's effort to pin down some personalities?” he was quoted as saying.
However, when contacted for clarification later in the day, the lawyer said there was no plan to recant, but only an appeal from his clients for Aguirre not to transfer them back to the maximum-security compound.
Aguirre questioned the veracity of Acejas’claims.
“I was told that he is not the lawyer of the inmates and that he even issued a threat that they would retract their statements if the transfer pushed through. It appears that this is yet another working of the other camp against the administration,” he said.
The DoJ chief added that he was informed that the inmates did not give any authorization to Acejas to speak for them.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, counsel of most of the witnesses in the drug cases against De Lima led by convicted drug lords led by Herbert Colangco and Noel Martinez who are currently held at the facility controlled by the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) in Camp Aguinaldo, already denied the reported plan of recantation.
Topacio said he served as lawyer of Baligad and he also checked with the camp of Co, who assured him that they would also stand firm on their earlier testimonies against De Lima.
The lawyer believes that information about the witnesses planning to recant their statements against De Lima could be part of a plot to weaken the cases against the senator.
Earlier this week, Aguirre ordered the Bureau of Corrections to immediately return the convicted drug lords from the medium security compound to their original detention facility.
The inmates were transferred from Building 14 in the maximum security compound in December last year under BuCor director Benjamin Delos Santos, who recently resigned from his post following the resurgence of illegal drugs trade inside the national penitentiary.
“All subsequent transfer of the high-profile inmates and/or inmates convicted of offenses related to illegal drugs within the NBP shall be signed and approved by the Secretary of Justice,” read the order.
In the same order, the DoJ chief also directed Ragaas to look into the transfer and submit an inventory of all inmates involved and the reasons for their transfer.