Opposition lawmakers assail partisan agenda

OPPOSITION lawmakers on Tuesday hit the “partisan agenda” of the House of Representatives’ investigation of the alleged rampant drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), amazed at how convicted criminals, who were the Duterte administration’s witnesses against Sen. Leila de Lima, were granted immunity.

Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano pointed out in a press conference how the two chambers of Congress treated their witnesses differently.

Alejano said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez  “quickly granted immunity … to convicted murderers, kidnappers and drug lords” under the Department of Justice witness protection program.

In stark contrast, the Senate denied protective custody to confessed Davao Death Squad hit man Edgar Matobato, who linked President Duterte to gruesome killings in Davao City when the Chief Executive was its mayor for decades.

“Let us call a spade a spade. This committee investigation is being conducted to lead De Lima to the drug trade in the NBP,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Lagman said the committee had violated its own rules when it allowed Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to ask his own witnesses questions.

“Under the rules of the House, under tradition, the lawyer (of the witnesses) cannot direct questions to the witness. He should pass the questions through the committee or the chair of the committee,” Lagman said.

Aguirre questioning

In a statement, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said Aguirre was allowed to lead the questioning of the witnesses because his “office has investigated these inmates and public officers.”

He said the committee members would have the opportunity to examine the witnesses and test their credibility.

Alejano said that in 2013, the then Aquino administration had put together a strategy to address the proliferation of drugs at the NBP.

Now, this strategy is being used against De Lima by the Duterte administration and drug lords like Herbert Colanggo, who was among the convicted drug lords whose business was badly hurt by the previous administration’s antidrug campaign at the NBP, Alejano said.

He said the 16th Congress was briefed on the Aquino administration’s strategy to combat the menace, which profited some P4 billion a month right inside the NBP that time.

Part of the strategy was to use a convicted kidnapper, Jaybee Sebastian, as a government asset.

He described the strategy as an interagency effort with  then Justice Secretary De Lima and then NBP superintendent,  Franklin Bucayo.

Talkative asset

But Sebastian was quite a talkative and boastful asset, practically confirming to everyone else at the NBP that he was working for the government. Sebastian is not among the witnesses of Aguirre in the House hearing.

“It is good to listen to the testimonies because all these testifying now are angry at Jaybee Sebastian. They are mad because Jaybee squealed on them,” Alejano said.

Sebastian also allegedly claimed that he gave De Lima P10 million for his competitors to be transferred to Building 19, on top of the monthly P1 million that he supposedly gave her.

Alejano said Bucayo resigned because of the “extreme pressure” on him to eradicate the drug trade, but the reality is it was a difficult campaign because of the so-called “Bilibid culture” where the “symbiotic relationship” between inmates and penitentiary employees was hard to break.

While it was an uphill battle, Alejano expressed belief the drug trade “has been reduced significantly.”

He stressed efforts to clean up the national penitentiary was started by then President Benigno Aquino III.