DOJ Usec wants prison VIP thrown in ‘bartolina’
From hospital bed—with women on the side—to “bartolina.”
The convicted drug lord, whose alleged VIP treatment put New Bilibid Prison (NBP) officials under scrutiny for the nth time, should be thrown into solitary confinement once proven to have faked his illness just to get a room in a private hospital where he was later allowed to see female visitors, including a starlet.
This was the position of Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, a day after he announced the relief of the NBP superintendent and 12 guards for “lapses” in dealing with Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang leader Ricardo Camata.
The supposedly ailing inmate “must be disciplined or, if needed, put in solitary confinement,” said Baraan, who pressed for the punishment even as an advocacy group called on the public to help expose jail officials nationwide who extend favors especially to moneyed, high-profile convicts.
In a statement, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said the Aquino administration is becoming known for its “tolerance of VIP treatment (given) to rich and powerful convicts and crime suspects.”
Conspiracy with doctors
Baraan said an ongoing investigation would check if Camata had faked his illness and conspired with prison doctors to get a hospital trip outside Bilibid. The now-sacked NBP Superintendent Fajardo Lansangan earlier cited an “emergency referral” from the doctors as his basis for allowing the convict to stay at Metropolitan Medical Center in Tondo, Manila, from May 28 to June 2.
But Baraan said the referral he saw indicated that Camata was only up for “consultation” with a pulmonologist. “What’s the emergency there?”
On Wednesday, the official said a total of nine Bilibid inmates were still staying in private hospitals, but only three had clearance from the Department of Justice (DOJ), which would only grant it in
“life-and-death situations.”
Citing security camera footage from the Manila hospital, Baraan said “Camata’s behavior was very normal. He could get in and out of his room, holding a cell phone. It was as though he wasn’t an inmate at all.”
Free to ply illegal trade
If Camata and other convicts are brought out of prison in this manner, there is a “big possibility (they) can still ply their illegal trade,” he said. “From what we saw in the footage, they can use their cell phone freely. That’s a complete no-no.”
As to Camata’s female visitors, Baraan said: “They’re not his relatives. The superintendent said there was a list of people who could visit him. The visitors—two males and one female visited on May 31, and two females and one male on June 1—were not subjected to security inspection and identity verification.”
“It’s important to frisk the visitors because you’d want to know if they have drugs or were carrying guns. The first thing the guards should have done was to prevent them from entering,” he added.
‘Sagala festival’
Baraan said the starlet Krista Miller was identified by Camata himself as one of his three female visitors. The convict and Miller first met during “a sagala festival” organized by the prisoners inside the NBP, with the woman as one of the invited guests.
Such activities can be allowed “but what’s important is that there should be no breach of security,” according to Baraan.
The other two female visitors, reportedly television dancers, have yet to be identified. One of them stayed in Camata’s hospital room until the “wee hours,” the official noted.
