"Nothing seems unthinkable anymore."
"Nothing seems unthinkable anymore."Showing the picture of a man’s body, supposedly the cadaver of a COVID-19 patient, would have sufficed to consider him dead. Not in the case of Jaybee NiÅ„o Sebastian.
I’m not surprised that quite a number of people remain skeptical about Sebastian’s reported death along with several big-time drug lords, including Amin Imam Buratong in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) facilities.
Among the doubting Thomases include Senators Tito Sotto, Dick Gordon and Risa Hontiveros who seek an inquiry into the "mysterious deaths."
I have a few questions myself about the circumstances surrounding the death of the prisoner. At least nine drug lords suffered from coronavirus infection and were confined in a quarantine building apart from the NBP hospital.
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director-general Gerald Bantag must have been aware of the fact that Sabastian was a state witness against former Justice Secretary and now-detained Senator Leila De Lima over illegal drugs charges.
The alleged deaths of Sebastian and others who were involved in such a case should have been properly reported to Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
It is in the interest of justice that the deaths be reported publicly even before the cremation was done.
And then, the fact that the matter made the news by way of a leaked info on "one Jaybee Sebastian” being on a list of dead inmates fueled public speculation that he had been surreptitiously freed, using the cadaver of another COVID-19 patient as his dummy for his supposed cremation.
After all that has happened, such as the Ninja Cops scandal that implicated former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, and after massive irregularities in connection with the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) at the BuCor that led to the release of heinous criminals for huge sums of bribes, nothing seems unthinkable anymore.
Sebastian and his rival drug lords had reportedly turned the NBP into a shabu laboratory and center of illegal drugs trafficking, earning billions of pesos.
Buratong was known for his shabu tiangge in Pasig City before he was imprisoned.
So, the possibility of an illusory magic being pulled to spring Sebastian out of prison is not at all far-fetched.
We know all too well that Sebastian, who could have paid a fortune, might turn out alive and well at some white-sand beach by crystal clear sea waters under the sun.
A no-nonsense inquiry is indeed in order, as Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct. Both BuCor and NBI are attached agencies of the DOJ.
Not to cast doubt on the character of the doctors and medical staff of the NBP hospital, but they too must shed light on the medical history of the COVID-19 patients including Sebastian and present the documentation such as daily charts during his confinement at the isolation facility.
There have been conflicting reports that Sebastian’s family could not be contacted within 12 hours, prompting the BuCor to have his remains cremated, according to the rules of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).
At least there is one unthinkable thing in this instance and that is for some big-shot like Jaybee Sebastian and his henchmen dying just like that after years of lording it over in the NBP, hosting parties and jamming with top DOJ officials as special guests.