BUREAU of Corrections officer-in-charge Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. yesterday said the tunnel found inside the New Bilibid Prison complex in Muntinlupa City was kept secret by the previous leadership as no public funds were used for the diggings.
Catapang disclosed the existence of the 30-meter deep, 200-meter wide tunnel last Friday but could not say yet whether it was an escape tunnel or diggings for gold.
Catapang said digging for the tunnel, located close to the Director’s Quarters, started in 2019 but did not specify whether it was during the time of former BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon or suspended chief Gerald Bantag.
The tunnel ends at the Poblacion River in Katarungan Village, just before the NBP’s perimeter fence.
The Director’s Quarters is the official residence of the BuCor director general.
Bantag took over from Faeldon in September 2019 after the latter was sacked by then President Duterte over the controversy generated by the release of thousands of inmates under the Good Conduct Time Allowance.
Bantag was suspended last month in connection with the murders of veteran radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and inmate Cristito Palana Villamor, alias Jun Villamor.
“That was not funded by BuCor, that’s why it was kept a secret,” Catapang said in a television interview.
Asked if Bantag had funded the diggings, Catapang said he could not say for certain if the suspended official funded it. But he said BuCor equipment such as a backhoe were used for the diggings.
Catapang said it is up to investigators to recommend if charges would be filed.
He said they have already identified the contractor of the project but declined to provide more details. He added they have also sought the assistance of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources because it did not issue any permit for the excavation.
Catapang also said the local government of Muntinlupa told him no authorization was given for the excavation.
Meanwhile, former DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he had no knowledge about the Bilibid excavation. Guevarra served as Justice chief from 2018 to June 2022.
“As former justice secretary, I had absolutely no knowledge about this alleged excavation inside the NBP compound,” Guevarra, now the Marcos administration’s solicitor general, said.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who is in Geneva, Switzerland leading the Philippine delegation to another session of the UN Human Rights Council, has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
