Ex-BuCor chief summoned to probe

MANILA, Philippines -  Former corrections director Oscar Calderon will be included in the investigation into the liability of officials in the unauthorized trip of convicted murderer Jose Antonio Leviste outside the national penitentiary last week.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered the investigating panel to summon Calderon after it was found that the 71-year-old Leviste was granted the privilege to sleep in a private nipa hut within the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) reservation during his watch.

Calderon is expected to face the DOJ panel today, along with current director on leave Ernesto Diokno.

Former NBP superintendent Armando Miranda will also be summoned.

Prison guard Fortunato Justo admitted before the panel yesterday that he had lapses in performing his duty last May 18 when Leviste sneaked out of the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa.

He did not notice that Leviste had slipped out, he added.

State Counsel Wilberto Tolitol, a member of the five-man panel, asked Justo in Filipino: “Did you notice that Leviste was picked up by a vehicle?”

Justo replied: “Di ko napansin, gawa nang mapuno (I did not notice any vehicle because there were many trees).”

Justo said Leviste was one of the 13 “sleep out” inmates assigned to him.

Trust and confidence in Leviste and others in his custody have been a consideration in monitoring them, he added.

Justo was also grilled for inconsistencies in his testimony before the panel and in his report on May 18, the day Leviste had ventured out of the prison compound.

In his incident report submitted to Diokno, Justo said he was able to account for all inmates inside the minimum-security compound – including Leviste – at 4 p.m. that day.

However, he told the panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Dacanay that when he made a headcount at 4 p.m., Leviste was no longer around.

“Ang katotohanan po, alas-kwatro nalaman ko na (The truth is, I knew at 4 p.m.),” he said.

“Pinahanap ko sa kasama niya kung andoon pa. Pero napag-alaman ko, wala na (I had his co-prisoner look for him, but I knew that he was not there anymore).”

Justo was placed under preventive suspension a day after Leviste’s arrest in his building in Makati.

Other prison officers led by NBP superintendent Ramon Reyes also faced the panel to explain the rules and procedures that allowed Leviste to be given “sleep out” privileges.

Diokno, who is set to face the panel today, has denied liability.

He cited his orders last December ordering the monitoring of movements of high-profile inmates.

Last March he had given command responsibility to officials supervising the NBP and other penal colonies, he added.

The level of liability on Leviste’s case based on command responsibility would not reach him, Diokno said.

‘Go must be locked up in disciplinary cell’

Convicted murderer Rolito Go must be locked up in a disciplinary cell at the maximum security compound, following reports that he violated “living-out” privileges and prison rules since 2008, the family of his victim Eldon Maguan said yesterday.

Rosario Maguan, mother of Eldon, learned from sources that Go lives at his own “kubol” or makeshift hut at the back of Ina Ng Awa Parish within the NBP reservation.

His hut is near the one previously occupied by lawmaker Romeo Jalosjos.

Jalosjos walked free in March 2009 after staying in prison for 13 years.

Go and 407 inmates in the minimum-security facility were granted “living out” status and 109 could “sleep out,” the panel found out.

“Sleep out” prisoners can spend the night in private homes inside the prison compound.

Officials of the Bureau of Corrections said “living out” inmates may move around the NBP compound starting at 6 a.m. But they should report to their custodians for the headcount at 6 p.m.

If they fail to do so, they are declared “missing” and will be moved to maximum security when found.

However, Mrs. Maguan said Go must be brought back to the maximum- and minimum-security compounds because he has been leaving the national penitentiary “hundreds of times since 2008.”

Go was already a living out inmate in March 2008 when he was not yet qualified, she added.

Go was listed as a “living out” prisoner, allowing him to go out of his cell but not the NBP compound, Maguan said.

De Lima said Go had been seen several times leaving the NBP compound without authorization.

Go was sentenced in 1994 to a maximum 30 years imprisonment for the killing of Eldon.

In an interview inside the NBP, Go said: “I go out six times a month. Last year, I go out almost everyday for chemotherapy sessions.”

Go said his regular check-up is conducted in a Makati hospital.

Maguan said sources informed them that Go, instead of going to the hospital, would proceed to his house in Quezon City, and then return to NBP late at night.

“Mr. Go must be confined in the disciplinary cell while his good conduct time allowance must be immediately terminated by BuCor for breaking several prison rules,” she said.

Santiago: Allow ‘pay to stay’ program for Bilibid inmates

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago asked yesterday the Department of Justice to study the feasibility of a “pay-to-stay” program for minimum security prisoners at the national penitentiary to do away with the practice of bribing prison officials for certain privileges.

“We need to change existing laws, to separate maximum security from minimum security prisoners,” she said.

“Minimum security prisoners should be allowed to apply for a ‘pay-to-stay’ program, if they are willing to pay hotel rates.”

Santiago said the program would be similar to what is being implemented in some cities in the United States, which allow some wealthy prisoners to be housed separately from the general population, provided that they pay hotel rates.

“The new law will disqualify any prisoner who has a history of violence, is a sex, drug, or arson registrant, or has a situation or condition that may endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the other pay-to-stay inmates, or the jail staff,” she said.

Santiago said on top of being allowed to stay in their own quarters, the prisoners who avail of the pay-to-stay program in the US are also provided with work release programs and the use of communication and electronic devices such as Mp3 players, mobile phones and laptop computers.

When an American is arrested for a non-violent crime in any county or state, he can ask the judge for permission to complete the jail sentence in a pay-to-stay program, she added.

Santiago said the program would apply only to nonviolent crimes such as crimes against public interest, which include fraud, forgery, and falsification; crimes against public morals, including gambling and betting; and nonviolent crimes against property, such as theft and bouncing checks.

The program would not apply to Leviste because he was convicted of the violent crime of homicide, she added.

Santiago said if over the years the directors of the Bureau of Corrections deem that it is a necessary anomaly, “then we might as well legalize it.”

“The rule is if we cannot stop a practice which is not advantageous to society, we might as well regulate it,” she said.

“We might as well regularize this practice and promulgate rules on how we should choose these people, because apparently the government is unable to stop it unless the justice secretary holds office there.” –With Non Alquitran, Marvin Sy