House NBP probe to cover cartels

MANILA, Philippines – The congressional inquiry into the alleged drug trade in the national penitentiary will extend to drug cartel operations nationwide to aid in crafting legislation that will curb the drug menace.

Congressmen made this commitment as the House committee on justice resumes today its probe on the alleged links of Sen. Leila de Lima to the supposed drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“Don’t you worry that we may not be able to call all the other witnesses,” House justice committee chair and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali told reporters yesterday. “Please be assured that we will continue to provide legislation.”

Umali said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wants the hearing on the NBP drug trade ended soon.

But he said the House committee on dangerous drugs led by Rep. Robert Barbers and the committee on public order and safety led by Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop could continue the probe.

Among the legislative changes Umali’s justice committee is considering are those that would “reform the enforcement and investigation” of errant inmates, who still commit crimes inside the penitentiary.

“Prosecutorial, judicial, and correctional reforms” are also in the offing, Umali said, especially for the Bureau of Corrections, which oversees the NBP and other penal colonies all over the country.

“The problem of illegal drugs is not only inside the NBP,” agreed Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, House majority leader. “That is also the problem of the House dangerous drugs committee.”

Members of the House committee on justice led by Umali said in its hearing last Thursday the chamber might have to hold a separate probe on revelations made by 56-year-old convicted kidnapper-murderer Nonilo Arile.

Arile disclosed he was an asset or informant of the Philippine National Police (PNP), recruited by Senior Superintendent Crisostomo Valeroso of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), and was tasked to provide intelligence reports about the extent of drug proliferation inside the prison facility.

The embedded PNP asset gave authorities detailed accounts on who were the drug lords operating inside NBP, their rank, how much money changed hands, and how many kilos of contrabands were being sold to the inmates’ contacts nationwide.

Last week, two of five witnesses affirmed former justice secretary De Lima’s drug links in the NBP, divulging her two alleged controversial sex videos with former driver-bodyguard Ronnie Dayan.

“Ang sabi ko ma’am ito na po. Kinuha po ito ni Secretary De Lima at inabot dun sa lalaking sumalubong sa akin (I told her, ‘Here, ma’am,’ as Secretary De Lima got it and handed it to the man who had first received me,” 54-year-old inmate SPO3 Engelberto Durano recalled of the P1.5 million cash that he stashed in a gift-wrapped shoe box.

The NBP inmate said he didn’t know who the guy was. All he remembered, he said, was that the former justice secretary was in the kubol (makeshift hut) of convicted kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian and fellow inmate Hans Tan, both considered drug lords inside the penitentiary.

Durano testified before the House justice committee that he personally gave the money to De Lima on instructions of Cebu-based drug lord “Jaguar,” who was slain in Las Piñas about four months ago.