Colangco describes a conversation he had with then Sec. Leila de Lima whom he bowed to in thanks during the congressional probe on the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison Sept. 20, 2016. L. Rillon/Inquirer
Convicted robber Herbert Colangco on Tuesday admitted operating a prostitution lair in the national penitentiary, saying he brought in and sold models for the inmates’ pleasure.
During a congressional inquiry on drug proliferation at the New Bilibid Prisons, Colangco likened the prison facility’s maximum security compound to the Manila red-light district in Roxas Boulevard.
“Ang maximum po ay ginawa ko talagang parang Roxas Boulevard. Kahit walang dalaw, sample model binayaran ko ng P25,000 sa labas, ibebenta ko sa loob ng P75,000,” Colangco said in the House of Representatives.
(I turn the maximum [security prison] into Roxas Boulevard. A sample model I pay P25,000 for outside, I sell for P75,000.)
Colangco said he was running a resort-like hotel with facilities like air-conditioning and shower inside the maximum security compound.
READ: Colangco alleged he gave P3M drug payola to De Lima
He earlier confessed selling boxes of beer during his concerts in the Bilibid, which he said Senator Leila de Lima had allowed in exchange for share in the money.
Colangco claimed De Lima, through her security aide and alleged bagman, received millions of kickbacks from drug trade supposedly to fund the former justice secretary’s senatorial bid.
De Lima, who initiated the Senate probe into the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country amid the administration’s bloody war on drugs, is being accused by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte of coddling drug lords during her stint at the justice department. CDG/rga
READ: 1st witness testifies De Lima got millions from drug lord