Senator Richard Gordon on Wednesday slammed law enforcers for the unsolved killings since 2011 of 16 New Bilibid Prisons inmates, the majority of which were masterminded by “money and influential” prisoners of the national penitentiary.
“If we are shown in America, they will laugh at us. If we are in London, we will be laughed at. You cannot solve cases. I am not trying to insult you but if I were a professional in investigating crimes, I will not stop until it is solved,”
Gordon told police officers present during the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the Good Conduct Time Allowance.
“Have we created a culture of complacency, a culture of helplessness?” Gordon said.
He said the unsolved killings, the latest involving the ambush-slay of Bureau of Corrections’ suspended legal division chief Fredric Anthony Santos, indicated a culture of inefficiency.
“This shows a lack of passion,” said Gordon who aired his dismay over the failure to solve the killing that happened within the prison area and involved motorcycle-riding gunmen.
He also voiced his “utter disgust for the system. He said the police and other law enforcers should serve the public with respect and efficiency.
Santos was gunned down on Feb. 19 near his daughter’s school, also near the Muntinlupa penitentiary.
But it was established in the hearing that the authorities were yet to have access to the dash camera inside Santos’ vehicle, which remained in the custody of SOCO. It was also discovered that the CCTV camera installed near the vicinity of the killing was not working.
Gordon said Santos should “not just be another statistic” in the deaths of BuCor personnel.
He said he was baffled about the unsolved cases when the masterminds were just inside Bilibid.
Pressed on who should take the initiative to compel law enforcers to act on the case, Gordon said the justice secretary should be the first person to react along with the BuCor director.
He said he wanted to see a summary of what had been done on the unsolved cases.
“We cannot close the book. Otherwise we will keep repeating that you do not solve anything,” he said.
He also expressed disappointment over the absence of BuCor chief Gerald Bantag in the Senate hearing, noting that it concerned his personnel.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa, former BuCor director and PNP director, renewed his stand for the re-imposition of the death penalty to serve as a deterrent to the killing of the bureau’s personnel.