Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Why did illegal drugs proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), spilling all over the country during the past administration? Such question Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said will be the subject of their investigation.
“Our objective really is to find out what happened in the previous administration and why did illegal drugs proliferate in Bilibid. Everybody in the DOJ (Department of Justice) from the past administration—at all levels—will be included in the investigation,” Aguirre told reporters on Tuesday.
Earlier, Aguirre as well as Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Director Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa revealed that Bilibid was the source of 75 percent of illegal drug transactions all over the country.
READ: Bilibid source of 75% of drug deals in PH—Aguirre
But he clarified that the investigation would not focus on specific persons.
“Whoever will come up in the investigation, we will pursue them if their names come up,” he said.
The DOJ chief said a team will be created to conduct a fact-finding investigation.
The investigation, he said will be different from the investigation being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the PNP.
During the past administration, there were three Justice Secretaries: Leila De Lima, now a senator, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, now a Supreme Court Associate Justice and Emmanuel Caparas who served for only five months.
De Lima initiated the raids inside Bilibid that led to the discovery of how much VIP an inmate is being treated inside the facility. The raids were continued during the time of Caguioa and Caparas.
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Rainier Cruz started the “Oplan Galugad” where “kubols” have been dismantled and contrabands have been confiscated.
Aguirre lauded Cruz’s effort but noted that it only made a small dent on the illegal activities inside prison because the high-profile inmates are already running the facility instead of the officials even before Cruz’s time.
Last week, Aguirre revealed that two former ranking officials of the DOJ and officials from the BuCor had received millions from high-profile inmates.
READ: Ex-DOJ, NBP officials received millions from Bilibid inmates–Aguirre
Aside from receiving bribe money, Aguirre said the officials rigged the daily meal budget for NBP inmates to be brought down to P40 from the previous budget of P50 so that the P240,000 “savings” per day could be pocketed by these officials and their cohorts at the state penitentiary.
However, he refused to identify the officials saying it would be unfair but assured that the result of the investigation will be released. RAM/rga
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