Bilibid convicts urged to pay in exchange for parole—lawyer

Atty. Ferdinand Topacio. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

High-profile inmates who applied for parole during the past administration were encouraged to submit their applications with a promise that it will be granted in exchange for money, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio said Wednesday.

One of Topacio’s client, Vicenty Sy, was among the five inmates who applied for parole before the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) during the time of former Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila De Lima. BPP is an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

READ: Bilibid convicts vs De Lima sought pardon during Aquino’s time

Aside from Sy, there are four other inmates who have pending applications before the BPP.

Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano said the testimonies of the inmates against De Lima could serve as a way for their applications to be granted.

But Topacio pointed out that the applications were submitted during the previous administration.

READ: Aguirre: No quid pro quo for inmates who testified vs De Lima

“It is ironic that Alejano and De Lima would use the pending parole applications against the present administration because our clients told me that they were encouraged by some DOJ officials during the Aquino administration to apply for parole, with the assurance that, for the right amount of money, the said applications would be approved before end of the Aquino administration and the term of Sec. De Lima and that in fact, considerable amounts of money have already been paid by them to these people,” Topacio said. RAM

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