No restrictive custody yet for cops linked to NBP deaths — PNP

Facade of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), with the sign of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). Image from the BuCor website

MANILA, Philippines — The 22 police officers, allegedly involved in the deaths of eight New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates, will be placed in restrictive custody if the Philippine National Police (PNP) receives “strong evidence” linking them to the case.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) earlier claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was used to cover the NBP inmates’ real cause of death.

Last Friday, the NBI filed murder complaints against police officers from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who were assigned to the Bureau of Corrections at the time of the inmates’ deaths.

Major General Valeriano De Leon, PNP director for operations, on Wednesday said he has yet to receive a report identifying the police officers who were linked by the NBI to the case, but he vows that the PNP will observe the necessary legal process.

READ: NBI files murder raps vs 22 cops for death of Bilibid inmates

“Sa opisina ko, inaantay nalang natin iyong formal report. Wala pa namang pangalan na nakarating sa amin,” he shared in an ambush interview at Camp Crame.

(In my office, we’re just waiting for the formal report. We have not yet received the names of the concerned officers.)

De Leon further noted: “There is a procedure on that. [If] there will be strong evidence that will be presented, they will be restricted until the resolution of the court.”

Asked whether the PNP will be extending legal assistance to the concerned police officers, he said it will only help on a “limited scale” if the action is deemed work-related.

“Kung ito ay isang individual action, it will also be the individual’s responsibility,” De Leon underscored.

(If it is an individual action then, it will also be the individual’s responsibility.)

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/MUF