Bureau of Corrections cancels privileges of inmates over drug deals

MANILA, Philippines — Visitations and other privileges given to inmates nationwide have been suspended following the discovery of drug transactions from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). 

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) spokesman Capt. Eusebio del Rosario Jr. told The STAR yesterday that among those cancelled are bringing of food and recreational activities.

Del Rosario said the suspension covers at least 45,681 inmates at the NBP and various penal farms.

“It will be lifted if there is no longer any basis regarding alleged illegal activities inside prisons,” he said. 

BuCor chief Director General Nicanor Faeldon issued the directive after learning that drug convict Rustico Ygot, who is serving his sentence at the maximum security compound of the NBP, managed to continue his illegal drug activities in Cebu through video calls using messaging applications. 

Ygot’s supposed contact, Jocelyn Encila, was arrested in Consolacion town last Sunday. Authorities seized 28 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P190.4 million in follow-up operations. 

BuCor officials said they confiscated Ygot’s cell phone and transferred him to a preventive cell for monitoring.

Three police officers and a member of the intelligence unit of the Philippine Coast Guard have been identified as members of a drug ring led by Ygot, a copy of the Central Visayas drug matrix obtained by The STAR on Tuesday showed.

Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said the government should improve jail management instead of suspending the privileges of inmates.

”Supervised visitations and contact with the outside world by correspondence and regular visits as well as exercise and sports are part of the minimum standards,” De Guia said, referring to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

3 slain in drug busts

Meanwhile, in Bulacan, police said Jestoni Macandog, alias Bunso, and Kristoffer Jess Policarpio were killed in a drug sting in Barangay Gaya-gaya, San Jose del Monte on Thursday.

Jose Orlando Santos, alias Rotor, was shot dead when he allegedly fired at anti-narcotics agents in Barangay Cut-cot, Pulilan.

Police said 13 sachets of shabu, 22 sachets of marijuana leaves, three .38 caliber revolvers, drug paraphernalia and marked money were recovered from the fatalities. – With Ramon Efren Lazaro, Janvic Mateo