Aguirre rejects drug lords’ stay request

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday rejected the request of some high-profile inmates in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who testified against Sen. Leila de Lima to stay in the medium security compound.

He also played down the reported threats by the convicted drug lords to recant their testimonies in the drug cases against De Lima.

“The transfer of the high-profile inmates back to the maximum security compound will push through. I already issued the department order where I said they should be transferred immediately, but apparently the officers here did not abide by my order,” he revealed after a surprise inspection at the NBP yesterday morning.

Aguirre’s order covered inmates earlier transferred to the medium security compound, including Vicente Sy, Jojo Baligad and Peter Co, who all testified against Sen. De Lima before the House of Representatives inquiry on the proliferation of illegal drugs in the NBP.

Francis Acejas III, who introduced himself as a lawyer of Sy, Baligad, and Co in a press conference in Manila last Wednesday, said there is a possibility of the witnesses recanting their statements.

But when contacted for clarification later in the day, the lawyer said there is no plan to recant but only an appeal from his clients for Aguirre not to transfer them back to the maximum security compound.

Aguirre questioned the veracity of Acejas’ claims, saying he was informed that the inmates did not authorize Acejas to speak for them. 

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, counsel of most of the witnesses in the drug cases against De Lima – led by convicted drug lords Herbert Colangco and Noel Martinez – who are currently detained at the facility controlled by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, denied reports the inmates would recant.

The inmates were transferred from Building 14 in the maximum security compound in December last year under BuCor director Benjamin delos Santos, who recently resigned from his post following the resurgence of illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary.

In a related development, Aguirre has taken upon himself the supervision and management of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) following the reported resurgence of illegal drug trade in the NBP.

In Department Order No. 505 released yesterday, Aguirre said he “shall directly supervise the management and operations of the BuCor, which are not within the ministerial powers of its officer-in-charge.”

BuCor is an attached agency of the Department of Justice. The DOJ chief made the decision following the irrevocable resignation of BuCor chief Benjamin delos Santos last July 13 and the recent appointment of Rey Ragaas as officer-in-charge of the bureau that supervises the NBP and other penal colonies nationwide.

The order is effective immediately and remains in force until further orders or until a new BuCor director general has been appointed.