MANILA, Philippines — Healthy inmates would have to pay P200,000 or even up to P2 million just to get a “hospital referral pass” and leave their cells for admission at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) hospital, Senate Panfilo Lacson bared Tuesday.
Lacson made the revelation following reports of the “hospital referral pass” scheme purportedly operating at the Bilibid with the aid of some employees of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
Some inmates reportedly avail of the passes for a fee to be able to continue their illegal activities – albeit in prison, but at the safety of the NBP hospital room.
“There are reports na natanggap namin sa opisina na ang range from P200,000 to even P2 million para ma-confine o ma-admit dun sa ospital at meron pa itong board and lodging [fee] amounting to something like P30,000 a day,” Lacson told reporters at the Senate.
“Hindi naman mangyayari ‘yun kung walang magse-certify na doctor so we need to find out kung ano ‘yong flow ng communication once an inmate, a PDL (person deprived of liberty), would request for confinement in the NBP hospital,” he added.
Lacson also said doctors of the NBP hospital have already been identified.
“‘Yong NBP hospital may mga pangalan ng doktor and I would request the chairman to issue invitation or summonses to those doctors na nagmamando sa ospital,” he said.
According to Lacson, movements of inmates inside the NBP hospital are less restricted.
“Libre ka, nagpapahinga ka. Sa hospital iba ang environment, iba ang kilos mo hindi masyadong restricted,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the “hospital referral pass for sale” racket would be taken up in the Senate justice committee’s upcoming investigation on Thursday.
“It also came to my attention. I was also informed about that issue, and it is being used by persons who are not sick. PDLs who were not sick,” he said.
“Doon nagne-negosyo, doon kung minsan ‘yung kung ano ang gusto nilang gawin, kung minsan may mini-meet na tao, minsan daw ay doon ‘yung transaksyon, for whatever transactions they want. Grabe. This is a whole new different type of perspective that we are seeing here” he added.
The “hospital referral pass for sale” was revealed amid the controversy surrounding the implementation and computation of the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) for PDLs or inmates, which is now the subject of the Senate investigation and review.
Justice Secreatry Menardo Guevarra has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate and conduct a case build-up on the reported “hospital referral pass for sale.” /kga