‘Gov’t doesn’t condone VIP treatment of high-profile convicts’

The government does not condone special treatment of high-profile convicts amid allegations that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II ordered the grant of special privileges to inmates who testified against Sen. Leila de Lima, a Palace official said.

“Obviously we don’t,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters in a Palace briefing when asked if the government favors certain privileges for the inmates in exchange for their testimony.

In an Inquirer report, a confidential Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) document showed that Aguirre ordered the grant of special privileges to drug convicts as a reward for testifying on the alleged drug links of De Lima.

READ: VIP treatment for witnesses vs Leila bared

Abella said the Palace would “verify” the allegations.

“We’ll verify that thing. We haven’t checked it yet. We’ll verify that accusation,” he said.

Aguirre confirmed on Wednesday that he had received the report but denied that he ordered the grant of special privileges to the drug convicts.

“I absolutely deny it. I made no such order,” he said in a statement.

The eight high-profile inmates from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who testified against De Lima are currently at the AFP custodial center in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. CDG/rga