No stopping Bilibid reforms despite P50M bounty for DOJ chief’s head

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. YUJI VINCENT GONZALES/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

“I am aware of your plan,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in his speech on Wednesday at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) where he said that an inmate has accepted P50-million contract kill from drug lords to assassinate him.

Aguirre went to the national penitentiary to oversee the turnover of security control of NBP to the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) elite Special Action Force (SAF).

In his speech, he said the inmate who offered to pay the bounty was from Building 14.

Building 14 is a separate building within the NBP’s Maximum Security Compound that houses high-profile inmates, mostly drug lords.

“I came here to tell you that I am aware of your plan….I am aware that they [high-profile inmates] have a contract amount of P50-million for my head,” Aguirre said.

Aside from Aguirre, PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa revealed that Bilibid inmates have offered bounties to kill him and President Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: Bounty for Duterte et al. now P1B

He pointed out that he is only doing his mandate and the orders of the President to curb the illegal activities inside prison. Aguirre earlier said that the Bilibid is the source of 75 percent drug transactions around the country.

READ: Bilibid source of 75% of drug deals in PH—Aguirre

“It is a network in the Philippines where shabu and other prohibited drugs are transported from mainland China or manufactured in the high seas and picked up by Philippine counterparts to be sold throughout the country,” Aguirre said.

Inmates have managed to continue running their “businesses” through the use of cellular phones that they have managed to sneak inside by bribing prison officials and employees.

Aguirre said they will employ a “shock and awe” tactic to stop the illegal transactions inside prison.

“I will continue to do this task even if it cost me my life and my job as Secretary of Justice,” Aguirre said.

Fifty-three inmates inside Building 14 have been temporarily transferred to two buses to allow the SAF men to search the area for prohibited items. RAM