Philippine National Police chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. INQUIRER file photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — Inmates masterminding illegal acts from their jail cells is not new, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said Wednesday, adding that authorities are trying to address this practice by coordinating closely with each other.
“I have been coordinating actually with the Bureau of Corrections [BuCor], even when I was at the NCRPO [National Capital Region Police Office]…we have a very close coordination with them and ‘yun naman hindi na bago ‘yun, kahit nung una pa, sinasabi na yung mga mastermind of all these illegal activities—not only for illegal drugs—but also in kidnapping and other heinous ay nandoon pa rin,” Eleazar said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
(I have been coordinating actually with the Bureau of Corrections, even when I was at the NCRPO… we have a very close coordination with them and that scenario is not new, even before, they are the masterminds of all these illegal activities—not only for illegal drugs—but also in kidnapping and other heinous crimes.)
“Yun yung binabago ng ating sistema…at nakakalungkot nga na because of that, it resulted on misencounter,” he added.
(That’s what our system is trying to change… it’s saddening that because of that, it resulted in a misencounter.)
Eleazar was asked about a National Bureau of Investigation probe about an inmate from the Sablayan Penal Colony in Occidental Mindoro “dictated the tempo” in a drug deal that eventually led to the deadly shootout between anti-drug operatives of the Quezon City police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Feb. 24.
“With regard to that information, we believe that talagang nangyayari ‘yon at pwedeng mangyari [That is happening and can happen]. That’s why we have to address that with closer coordination not only with the BuCor but of course with the law enforcers, particularly the PNP and PDEA,” Eleazar went on.