8 drug convicts, including pastor, linked to hospital-pass scheme

MANILA, Philippines — Eight high-profile inmates, one of them a pastor, have been tagged in the alleged hospital-pass-for-sale scheme inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

And even while inside the Bilibid, the inmates, most of them drug convicts, allegedly continued their illegal drug transactions, neophyte Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go disclosed on Tuesday.

Go said he got the information about the said illegal activities of the inmates from a high-profile inmate.

“Most of these illegal drug transactions take place in Medical Ward 3, Medical Annex and Building 14,” he said in an interview at the Senate.

“It involves several personalities, about eight of them. Illegal drug trade continues in the NBP with the NBP Hospital as the new venue for illegal drug transactions,” he added.

With the help of hospital officials, the inmates would feign sickness so they would be transferred to the hospital and would have access to telephones, Go said.

“I can’t give details of the transactions and their contacts outside, but they use a room to transact with someone outside by calling on a cellphone,” Go said in Filipino.

The senator refused to identify the inmates, except saying they used different aliases.

“They’re high-profile. There’s even a pastor,” he pointed out.

Go said he had already asked the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to verify the information and investigate.

This hospital-pass-for-sale scheme is just one of the alleged corrupt practices uncovered during the ongoing investigation of the Senate Committee on Justice.

At least two witnesses have already testified before the committee about the so-called GCTA-for-sale scheme, where inmates could pay for their early release.

The GCTA is good conduct time allowance used to compute reduced prison terms.

/atm