Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Bureau of Corrections is very much capable of handling death threats against its personnel.
Guevarra said BuCor officials and personnel have already become accustomed to threats that they always take necessary measures to protect themselves from any threat.
“The BuCor people are accustomed to threats from inside and outside the prison walls due to the nature of their job. They have adapted and they know what precautions to take… Sanay ang BuCor sa ganyan. They coexist with the most dangerous people in the country. They are on alert 24/7,” Guevarra said in a text message.
But Guevarra admitted that he is not in a position to determine how dangerous are the death threats against BuCor personnel.
“No, I have neither personal knowledge nor access to intelligence information that would enable me to assess threat levels against BuCor personnel. They themselves can do such assessment,” the Justice Secretary said.
Guevarra issued the statement after BuCor was reported to have raised its alert level after it reportedly received threats against its officers in connection with the death of nine high-profile persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who reportedly died of coronavirus.
As additional security, the BuCor has coordinated with the local police, barangay officials and other authorities.
In a related development, the Department of Justice said it has complied with the request of the Commission on Human Rights that it be furnished with the list of PDLs who are treated at Site Harry, which was been the quarantine facility located inside the New Bilibid Prison to threat PDLs infected with COVID-19.
However, the CHR criticized the DOJ and BuCor for their “lack of transparency” and “non-cooperation” because after repeated correspondence, they claimed they have not yet forwarded the list of PDLs who are being treated at Site Harry.
“I think DOJ Usec Deo Marco has already requested the list from BuCor. We’ll just follow up. This kind of information is available only from the primary source. The DOJ does not keep the official files of the BuCor nor the personal records of PDLs.”
Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco confirmed that they have already mailed to CHR the list that they requested.
“If I remember correctly, the CHR sent the request to our office. So I forwarded their request to BuCor with instructions to comply.”
Once he received the list from the BuCor, “we sent it to CHR last week, by mail.”
The BuCor is an attached agency of the DOJ. But under the BuCor Law, the DOJ only has supervision and no control over the bureau’s operations.
Guevarra said it was unfair for the CHR to say that they were uncooperative in acting on its request.
“The DOJ has been trying to uncover strange things happening at the BuCor. That’s why it has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to step in. It is not fair to say that the department has not been transparent about the conditions at the BUCOR,” he said.
Last July 21, Guevarra ordered the NBI to conduct a free and unhampered investigation into reports that nine high-profile inmates died due to COVID-19, but were not immediately reported by the BuCor.
Among those who died inside the NBP because of virus infection were convicted carjacker and kidnap-for-ransom gang leader Jaybee Niño Sebastian and shabu flea market boss Amin Imam Boratong.