Docs axed for VIP treatment to inmate

MANILA, Philippines–Justice Secretary Leila de Lima dismissed on Monday two doctors and the head guard at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) hospital in Muntinlupa City for giving special treatment to a convicted drug lord who was allowed to leave jail and stay in a private hospital.

Relieved of their posts were Dr. Gloria Achazo-Garci, the acting head of the NBP hospital; medical specialist Dr. Ma. Cecilia V. Villanueva and Supt. Gabriel Magan, chief of the NBP escort unit.

Earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered the dismissal of NBP Superintendent Fajardo Lansangan and 12 custodial guards for lapses in dealing with Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang leader Ricardo Camata.

Camata, a convicted drug lord, was allowed to leave the prison and stay from May 28 to June 2 at Metropolitan Medical Center in Tondo, Manila, where he was visited by women, including starlet Krista Miller.

Earlier, Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, who was tasked to investigate the alleged VIP treatment given to some convicts, recommended the dismissal of the two doctors after they were found to have given “emergency referrals”—without the clearance of the DOJ—which allowed moneyed or high-profile inmates to stay in private hospitals.

In her order, De Lima ordered Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayu to designate temporary replacements for the three relieved personnel “in order not to hamper the operations of the NBP hospital.”

Speaking to reporters, the DOJ chief said she had also issued a memorandum order asking Lansangan, the 12 custodial NBP guards and the three newly relieved personnel to explain why they should not be administratively charged over the Camata incident.

According to De Lima, the 15 are facing administrative charges that include abuse of authority, neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

She said that she would create a three-member fact-finding committee to be headed by Baraan “to further look into other similar cases of high-profile inmates being allowed to go outside hospital confinement without compliance with the rules.”

There are nine Bilibid inmates currently staying in private hospitals but only three have clearance from the DOJ which grants it only in “life-and-death situations,” Baraan earlier said.

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