DOJ probes scandal over special treatment given to inmates
Department of Justice building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – An investigation was launched by the Justice Department on Tuesday to look into the alleged special treatment given to a convicted gang leader who let in dancers and a starlet inside his hospital ward outside jail.
In a text message, a police source said Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Francisco Baraan went to the Metropolitan Medical Center in Manila on Tuesday afternoon to conduct an “ocular investigation.”
Convicted drug lord Ricardo “Chacha” Camata, commander of the notorious Sigue Sigue Sputnik Gang, was rushed last weekend to the hospital due to a lung ailment.
The same police source, who requested anonymity, said on Monday that “a starlet and television dancers” spent the night in Camata’s hospital ward.
In just a month, three high-profile Bilibid inmates have been temporarily released out of jail to seek medical services at private hospitals.
On May 13, convicted drug lord Amin Boratong was brought to Medical City in Pasig City due to a heart and liver disease.
It was also in Pasig City, particularly at Mapayapa Compound, where Boratong owned a P900 million, 2,000-square meter “shabu tiangge” (flea market).
After several weeks, convicted robbery gang leader Herbert “Ampang” Colangco sought treatment for Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) at Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
Colangco was notorious for masterminding bank heists for several years inside and outside Metro Manila.
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