Bilibid heads roll after ‘sick’ convict received girls in private hospital

The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) superintendent and 12 prison guards were relieved of their posts Wednesday as the Department of Justice cited “lapses” when they let a high-profile inmate stay in a private hospital and receive female visitors, including a starlet.

Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan announced the relief of NBP Supt. Fajardo Lansangan, and the guards who escorted Ricardo Camata, the Sigue-Sigue gang “commander” who received treatment at Metropolitan Medical Center in Manila from May 28 to June 2.

Camata was earlier reported to be suffering from a lung ailment. Lansangan then said the inmate was brought to the private hospital after the NBP hospital issued an “emergency referral.”

But emerging from a meeting at Bilibid on Wednesday, Baraan said the inmate didn’t appear to be in a life-threatening condition, based on a security camera footage showing Camata at the Manila hospital.

“Based on the video, Camata was as strong as a camel,” Baraan said. “You can see in the video that [the prison guards were] acting as though they were his close buddies. He can move around anytime and get in and out of the room even when they’re not there. He could have easily escaped.”

Footage taken on the night of May 31 and June 1 also confirmed earlier reports that Camata received a series of female visitors, all walking in with a common male companion. The visitor on the first night was starlet Krista Miller, Baraan said.

“The guards committed lapses. They just allowed them in without frisking them, entering their names on a logbook or even questioning them. I told them that ‘you intentionally did not do your duty.’ They were remiss in their duties, all of them,” he stressed.

NBP doctors also face questioning for allowing Camata’s hospitalization outside the prison without prior clearance from the justice secretary, Baraan added.