DOJ probe panel recommends raps vs at least 10 BuCor execs

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice panel, which investigated the unauthorized trip of homicide convict and former Batangas governor Jose Antonio Leviste outside of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), has recommended the filing of a criminal case against an official of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III said Monday.

Baraan said at least 10 other prison officials would be slapped with administrative complaints over Leviste’s unauthorized trip outside the NBP.

But the justice official refused to confirm if President Benigno Aquino’s friend, BuCor director Ernesto Diokno, was among those recommended charged by the five-member fact-finding committee.

“Let’s just wait for the President’s announcement because he (Diokno) is a presidential appointee,” Baraan said.

He said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima would furnish the President the panel’s 36-page report within the day. He said the two-part report contained the investigating team’s findings and recommendations on the Leviste incident.

In a separate interview, De Lima said she prepared an eight-page cover memorandum which included her own recommendations. She said she approved and adopted the report in its entirety.