Under the sea

Obviously, this is a more rational plan of President Duterte than his original idea of shipping out the 16,000 inmates at the NBP and bring them all at the high seas to drown and perish.

Deputy House Speaker Rep. Fredenil Castro from the second district of Capiz was the guest last Wednesday during our weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay at Cafe Adriatico in Remedios Circle in Malate.

Castro told us he has chalked up two cycles already as a member of Congress. One cycle of Congress would mean three consecutive terms in Congress, or a total of nine years. The 65-year-old lawmaker is now on his second term of his second cycle of Congress. Since lawmakers are bound by term limits, his wife took over in between terms of his break from Congress.

Although a veteran in Congress, I hardly knew him until he attended our Kapihan forum for the first time. My most recent memory about him was his grilling then of Sen. Leila de Lima and her estranged partner Ronnie Dayan during the House hearing of alleged illegal drugs trade inside the National Bilibid Penitentiary (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

Castro became notoriously known for asking Dayan in Tagalog if he had “wagas, tapat, at dalisay na pag-ibig” (sincere, true and pure love) while he was still a partner of De Lima. Castro explained at length that it was a well-meaning legal question. According to him, this was to establish the fact that Dayan might have been “coerced, bribed, or threatened” to spill the beans against De Lima to whom he previously professed as having “wagas, tapat at dalisay na pag-ibig.” 

Like President Rodrigo Duterte, Castro was a graduate from San Beda College of Law, though he is much junior than him. De Lima likewise took up her law degree from the same institution. She is currently detained at Camp Crame on these alleged illegal drugs cases filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) now headed by Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

De Lima is going through criminal prosecution before the Muntinlupa regional trial court for alleged offenses committed during her watch as former DOJ Secretary when illegal drugs trade allegedly flourished inside the walls of the state penitentiary. 

The long-drawn public hearing into this scandal, Castro cited, was productive though. This, despite the flaks he and some of the House leaders earned for raising too personal questions on the De Lima-Dayan dalliance.

 As to possible remedial or new legislation that came out of these public hearings, Castro could not give us offhand any particular bills. But Castro disclosed President Duterte echoed his plans to transfer the supervision and control of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to the Office of the President.

Obviously, this is a more rational plan of President Duterte than his original idea of shipping out the 16,000 inmates at the NBP and bring them all at the high seas to drown and perish.

In his usual sarcasm, the President talked about chartering ships to bring all the NBP inmates and leave them floating in the high seas near Peru. The President did not say why in Peru of all places to transfer NBP inmates who include convicted foreigners on illegal drugs and other major crimes.

Citing the resurgence of drug operations inside the national penitentiary, President Duterte expressed his flabbergast over the reported continuing illegal drugs trade by inmates and their cohorts trade at the NBP.

Referring to Gothong Lines, a passenger and cargo ferry based in Cebu, the President told his audience: “Bilihin ko na lang (ships). I-insure ko. Ilipat ko na lang ang Muntinlupa diyan. Tapos, guyurin ko diyan sa gitna ng Peru at Pilipinas, diyan mag-converge ang ano – butasan ko.  T*** i** kayo. Ba-bye.”

Expecting usual criticisms from human rights advocates, the former Davao City Mayor hastened to add he will also provide life buoys for them. But wisecracked: “Iwanan ko sila ng salbabida pero butasan ko rin.”

The President cracked these jokes with a straight-face in his extemporaneous remarks at the 26th anniversary program of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City last July 12. Incidentally, the BJMP is a separate agency that controls and supervises all local jails around the country. It is an agency attached to the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).

BuCor, on the other hand, is one of attached agencies of the DOJ. Under present set-up, the NBP is directly supervised by the BuCor along with several other state penal facilities that also included the controversial Davao Farm & Penal Colony (Dapecol).

Castro remembered the President bared the more sober plan to transfer the BuCor to the OP in a usual off-the-cuff remark during a meeting with Senators and House leaders at the 17th Congress at Malacanang last Monday. The meeting was called by the President to sound out the lawmakers on the proposed extension of martial law in Mindanao to be tackled in the special sessions of Congress tomorrow convened for this specific purpose. 

The latest idea of the President to transfer BuCor under Malacanang was apparently an offshoot of the recent resignation of BuCor chief Benjamin Delos Santos. The sudden resignation of Delos Santos came following press statements by Aguirre, his immediate boss, about alleged resurgence of illegal drugs trade inside the NBP.

This was one version why Delos Santos gave up being BuCor chief. But we hear rumors otherwise.

The retired police general was appointed as BuCor chief in November last year. When we had Delos Santos as guest at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay last April 19, he was very much excited to share with us about his plans and programs to implement reforms at the NBP, Dapecol, and other state-run prison facilities.

During that forum, Delos Santos gingerly avoided talking about the raging controversy contract of the Tagum Agricultural Development Corp (Tadeco) in managing the Dapecol. The BuCor chief admitted he does not want to be caught in the middle of this controversy involving Duterte allies in Congress, namely, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Davao Rep. Tonyboy Floreindo.

Alvarez initiated a legislative probe into the joint venture agreement of Tadeco with BuCor which he claimed was grossly disadvantageous to the government. Later, however, Delos Santos conceded the Bureau is not capable of managing the 5,308.36-hectare banana plantation inside Dapecol.

As of this writing, President Duterte has yet to name a new BuCor chief. After his resignation, Delos Santos has gone back to one of his favorite activities – scuba diving. Perhaps, preparing for the new site under the sea of the state penitentiary…joke only.