In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, high profile inmates testify against former justice secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima on her alleged ties to drug trafficking in the New Bilibid Prisons. From left are Froilan Trestiza, Hans Anton Tan, Jojo Baligad, Noel Martinez and Jaime Patcho. (INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES)
MANILA— Five of the 12 inmates at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) who testified at the House committee on justice’s inquiry on the Bilibid drug trade have pending applications for pardon or clemency, raising
doubts on their credibility as independent resource persons, according to Magdalo partylist Representative Gary Alejano.
“I asked [for] this because this can be used as a reward because they testified. They were given immunity and witness protection. We should keep watch over these five because they might be released any time,” Alejano said at the weekly press conference of the opposition lawmakers at the House of Representatives.
Responding to Alejano’s inquiry, the Bureau of Pardons and Parole (BPP) said that former police officers Engelberto Durano and Nonilo Arile, Jaime Patcho, Jojo Baligad, and Vicente Sy have pending applications for either pardon, probation, or executive clemency that they filed during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III.
Except for Baligad, all of these inmates implicated Senator Leila de Lima in the narcotics trade at the national penitentiary, saying that the former justice secretary or her aides ordered them to raise funds using drug money for her senatorial bid last May.
Baligad said former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge, Rafael Ragos, demanded hefty weekly payola from inmates likes him.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said that the inmates’ testimonies could be their “possible ticket to freedom.”
“These applications for clemency and pardon will be enhanced by their cooperation in giving their testimony,” Lagman said.
In his testimony, Patcho was effusive in his praises for the anti-illegal drugs war of the administration, saying he has been praying for the success of President Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Rolando “Bato” De la Rosa because they appeared serious in their campaign.
Patcho told the committee he sold illegal drugs, and implied he had connections in the drug network, to raise funds for De Lima on orders of high profile kidnapping inmate Jaybee Sebastian.
He also appealed for help for inmates who were abused during the time of De Lima. SFM/rga
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