Duterte says he ordered the transfer of convicts who testified vs De Lima
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he ordered the transfer of at least 10 high-profile inmates, including those who testified against detained opposition Sen. Leila de Lima, from the New Bilibid Prison to the Marines’ barracks in Taguig City.
In a speech in Naga, Cebu, Duterte said he refused to send the inmates back to the state penitentiary because he feared they will be killed by De Lima’s supposed henchmen once they testify against her.
“They will really be killed. By then no one would be able to tell the truth,” Duterte said in his native Visayan dialect.
“I’m telling you now. It was me. I was the one who gave the orders,” he added.
The president then defended his decision to pardon convicts, whom he did not name.
“The people I grant pardon to is my responsibility. You do not question because the Constitution says it is an absolute power,” he said.
“That’s mine alone. And because I saw that there are those who deserved to be released. But I will not answer that. It’s my power. So I will not answer questions why,” he added.
A fierce critic of the Duterte administration and its deadly anti-narcotic campaign, De Lima was arrested on Feb. 24, 2017 on what she called “trumped-up” drug charges that she said were part of a presidential vendetta.
CNN Philippines had reported that dismissed prisons chief Nicanor Faeldon approved on June 12 the transfer of “high risk” inmates from NBP's maximum security compound to the Philippine Marine Barracks in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Among the inmates moved into the Marines’ facility were Hans Anton Tan, Jojo Baligad, Vicente Sy, Froilan Trestiza, Nonilo Arile and Joel Capones. They linked De Lima to the alleged drug trade inside the national penitentiary.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he did not see anything wrong if the Bureau of Corrections handed over the high-profile inmates to the Marines’ barracks, citing security concerns as the reason for their transfer.
Guevarra added there was no irregularity in the transfer if it was made through a court order.
“As long as a court approval is secured, I guess that should be okay because the intention is not to provide any special treatment, but to secure precisely these people who, to my understanding or recollection, will be or are witnesses in an existing case,” Guevarra told reporters.
“So it’s not for the purpose of giving them special treatment, but because their personal security is under threat,” he added.
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