‘Reactionary’ DOJ exec should also go–VACC

NO TO VIPs IN BILIBID VACC founding chair Dante Jimenez (third from right) and other members of the anticrime watchdog demand a revamp in the New Bilibid Prisons in a press conference Friday. JOAN BONDOC

A crime watch group on Friday insisted that not only erring prison officials should resign but also the justice department official who is investigating them for allegedly giving VIP treatment to moneyed inmates.

In a press conference in Manila, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chair Dante Jimenez said Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III himself should step down since “so far, he has been showing only a reactionary attitude.”

“We are calling for Baraan’s resignation. The special treatment of convicted felons, especially drug lords, should have been prevented long ago. Haven’t they learned their lesson from the Leviste caper?” Jimenez said.

He was referring to the case of former Batangas Gov. Antonio Leviste, who served time for the death of his aide but managed to slip in and out of New Bilibid Prison (NBP) several times during his sentence.

Earlier this week, Baraan announced the relief of NBP Supt. Fajardo Lansangan and 12 guards for allowing convicted drug lord Ricardo Camata to stay in a private hospital where he received female visitors, including a starlet.

“We call on the Department of Justice to have a massive revamp of the Bureau of Corrections by replacing the present composition of officials and major positions to prevent similar incidents which happened recently,” VACC also said in a statement.