MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is poised to investigate the alleged “GCTA for sale” scheme that was bared by a witness during a Senate hearing this week.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday said his agency will conduct the probe in the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) as soon as they complete guidelines for the implementation of the GCTA provisions under the Republic Act 10592.
“That will be part of the investigation because after we have completed the guidelines or even before that I intend to conduct an inquiry into what’s going on at the BuCor in connection with the GCTA,” Guevarra told reporters in an ambush interview.
READ: DOJ, DILG create joint committee to review GCTA implementing rules – Malaya
At Thursday’s resumption of the Senate investigation on GCTA, Yolanda Camelon attested to the alleged GCTA for sale scheme in BuCor.
Camelon, a common-law wife of a Bilibid inmate, told the Senate panel that she had coughed up P50,000 to secure the release of her partner.
READ: Witness tells Senate: Freedom comes with a price tag in Bilibid
She claimed she was promised that her husband will be freed by March but that he still remains locked up to this day.
‘A very real possibility’
While an investigation is still being conducted by the Senate, Guevarra believes that payment in exchange for early freedom is a “very real possibility” in the New Bilibid Prison and BuCor.
“Further investigation is being done to validate the existence of the so-called GCTA for sale,” he said.
“I do not have the facts before me but I tend to believe that is a very real possibility,” he added. /kga