Probe into alleged BuCor corruption a ‘bottomless pit,’ says Lacson 

MANILA, Philippines — With the uncovering of alleged corrupt practices within the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Senator Panfilo Lacson believes Senate is investigating a “bottomless pit” of corruption.

“Inamin na rin naman ng mga ibang BuCor officials na ganoon ang kalakaran. So bottomless pit nga itong investigation kaya rin hindi matapos-tapos dahil nanganganak ng mga issue, nanganganak ng kontrobersya, nanganganak ng korapsyon,” Lacson said in an interview with GMA’s Unang Hirit on Friday.

The Senate justice committee is currently probing the alleged irregularities in the BuCor.

Starting the probe was the aborted release of rape and murder convict former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez through the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

This then led to claims that good conduct credits were being sold to inmates inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), which is under the BuCor’s supervision.

The “hospital-pass-for-sale” racket also surfaced in the wake of the hearings wherein some inmates allegedly avail of the passes for a fee to be able to continue with their illegal activities while confined at the prison hospital.

READ: Bilibid docs face grilling on hospital-passes-for-sale scheme

Witnesses have already testified and attested to the alleged schemes.

Several alleged money-making operations were also exposed by a former BuCor official during another hearing Thursday.

READ: Bilibid flesh trade, 24-hour gambling bared

3 cited in contempt

Three BuCor officials have also been cited in contempt and were ordered confined at the Senate for allegedly evading questions from senators.

READ: Senate panel cites 3 BuCor officials in contempt

Cited for contempt were BuCor legal chief Frederic Anthony Santos, BuCor records division head Ramoncito Roque, and Ursicio Cenas, medical officer at the NBP hospital.

“May pagdinig sa September 19, pwede doon i-decide kung pwede na sila palabasin o hindi. Depende kung ano magiging demeanor or attitude nila sa susunod na pagdinig,” Lacson went on.  /muf