Former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Franklin Bucayu finally gave an answer to the question why convict Jaybee Sebastian was spared from the December 2014 raid at the New Bilibid Prison.
Bucayu said Sebastian was left out in the raid so that criminal gangs that lord over Bilibid would not lose a titular leader.
This was revealed during the third day of the House of Representatives inquiry into the drug trade inside Bilibid that was allegedly left to proliferate when Bucayu was director of the BuCor.
READ: Bucayu flipflops, admits De Lima visited Sebastian once in ‘kubol’
Bucayu said it was a consensus among the BuCor, the Department of Justice under De Lima, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission to exclude Sebastian from the December 2014 raid.
This was because Sebastian was more manageable and cooperative than the second influential leader Herbert Colanggo, who was among the 19 inmates transferred to the NBI after the raid.
Sebastian was chosen to be left behind as a unifying leader in the maximum security compound to prevent a vacuum of leadership inside Bilibid that might cause a riot, Bucayu said.
Bucayu admitted that it was beyond the capacity of the BuCor to stamp out the gang culture among the inmates. Bucayu said there were only 100 BuCor guards manning more than 14,000 inmates at the maximum security compound.
“Si Jaybee ay hindi nakasama dun sa 19 dahil po ay nung kami ay nag-uusap, napag-isip-isip ng grupo na if maalis silang lahat, ay maaring magkaroon ng vacuum of leadership. Kaya ang usapan diyan ay pinagpilian kung si Jaybee o si Colanggo. Ngunit ang napag-agree-han nung grupo at that time ay si Jaybee ang maiwan, dahil sa tingin ng grupo, siya ang more manageable and more cooperative,” Bucayu said.
(Jaybee wasn’t included in the 19 inmates because when we were talking about it, the group thought if all will be [transferred], there’d be a vacuum of leadership. There was a choice between Jaybee and Colangco. What the group has agreed upon at the time was Jaybee would be the one left behind because the group viewed him as more manageable and more cooperative.)
“Nasa kultura roon na ang atin pong mga inmates use inmates in helping them maintain order sa loob,” Bucayo added.
(It’s in our culture that among our inmates, we use inmates in helping them maintain order inside the prisons).
Deputy Speaker Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro slammed as “a flimsy and lame excuse” that Sebastian was spared from the December raid because of the need to leave behind a titular head.
“Ibig inyong sabihin pinabayaan niyo ang mga gangs na mamayagpag sa kulungan, at wala kayong magawang i-control pati ang pag-exercise ng authority sa loob?” Castro said.
“This excuse is flimsy. The excuse is lame, I could not believe them.” he added.
Bucayo said Sebastian’s stay inside the maximum security compound was only temporary at the time because the construction of the Building 14 was not yet finished.
Despite threats to his life, Sebastian was later transferred to Building 14 together with Colangco and the rest of the Bilibid 19.
“Yun pong pag-iwan kay Jaybee ay temporary lang po. We were trying to manage the situation at the moment,” Bucayu said.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said that the NBI raid led by De Lima without the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group was intended to pull out 19 high-profile inmates alleged to Sebastian’s competitors in the drug trade.
It was Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy chief for operations Director Benjamin Magalong who earlier testified that Bucayu pleaded Magalong not to pursue the Oplan Cronus: “Benjie, mamamatay ako. Delikado ako diyan (Benjie, I am going to die for that).
The Oplan, crafted by CIDG under the helm of Magalong, was aborted when it was not given the go-signal by then justice secretary De Lima, who instead led a National Bureau of Investigation raid that exposed the lavish quarters of drug lords inside Bilibid last Dec. 2014.
READ: Bucayu pins blame on De Lima for aborted ‘Oplan Cronus’ | Bucayu says he feared for his life in blocking ‘Oplan Cronus’
De Lima allegedly transferred the Bilibid 19 to allow Sebastian, her favored drug lord, to monopolize the trade there in a bid to raise campaign funds for the senator.
READ: Solons raise eyebrows over De Lima’s NBP raid sparing Sebastian | Police kept out of raid, says high PNP official
In an earlier hearing, murder convict Jojo Baligad said Bucayu received P1.7 million as “tara” for allowing the proliferation of drugs inside the Bilibid.]
Baligad said he also paid a weekly “tara” to officials in the Bilibid namely National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director General and then Bureau of Corrections officer in charge Rafael Ragos, and a certain Col. Elie from Bucayo’s office.
Bucayu denied receiving a single centavo, or giving authority to Col. Elie to receive drug “tara” on his behalf.
READ: Ex-BuCor chief: I didn’t get a single centavo in NBP ‘drug trade’
“Hindi ko siya binigyan ng authority at wala akong tinanggap na single centavo,” Bucayu said of the certain Elie.
In his affidavit, Baligad listed his following transactions:
January 2013 (first week) – P100,000 to Kumander Poy
January 2013 (second week) – P100,000 to Poy
January 2013 (last week) – P200,000 to inmate Hebert Colangco
February 2013 (first or second week) – P200,000 to Colangco
June to September 2014 – P1.5 million to Colanggo
May 2014 – 50,000 to Col. Elly
June 2014 – 50,000 to Col. Elly
July 2014 – 100,000 to Col. Elly
Aug 2014 – P100,000 to Col. Elly
October 2013 to April 2014 – P1.4 million to a certain “Sir Eugene”
Baligad also testified that De Lima received P1.5 million from the drug trade led by robbery convict Herbert Colanggo.
READ: De Lima received P1.5M drug payola from Colanggo–murder convict