DOJ team to probe more cases of inmates getting VIP treatment

A newly formed committee by the Department of Justice (DOJ) will look into more incidents involving the “unauthorized outside movements” of high profile inmates in Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) facilities.

At the same time, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima tasked the three-member fact-finding committee led by Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III to look further into the case of convicted drug lord Ricardo Camata who was allowed to leave the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City and stay in a private hospital for several days.

Camata’s confinement at Metropolitan Medical Center in Tondo, Manila, drew a lot of flak after it was discovered that he entertained women in his room, including starlet Krista Miller.

Miller has since claimed that she went there to sell a condominium unit to Camata.

Sixteen NBP officials led by Supt. Fajardo Lansangan, including two doctors assigned to the prison hospital and the chief of the NBP escort unit, were sacked by De Lima over the incident.

In the DOJ secretary’s Department Order No. 435, she directed the committee to determine whether the relieved officials and personnel should be charged administratively and criminally for giving Camata VIP treatment.

Aside from looking into the cases of Camata and that of other high-profile inmates, the committee was also expected to recommend appropriate measures to prevent a repeat of similar incidents.

De Lima ordered the committee to submit its report on or before July 18.

Aside from Baraan, the two other members of the committee are Jose Doloiras, deputy director for intelligence services of the National Bureau of Investigation and DOJ state counsel Charles Cambaliza.