BY ASHZEL HACHERO and RAYMOND AFRICA
NINE high-profile inmates have reportedly succumbed to complications arising from COVID-19, according to sources as Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said he has received confidential information from insiders that at least eight drug lords have died in the past weeks.
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials kept mum about the reports but jail sources said Jaybee Sebastian was among those who have died. The sources said Sebastian’s remains were brought to a crematorium in Dasmariñas, Cavite at past 9 p.m. The whole process took more than two hours, the sources added.
“A couple of weeks ago, Jaybee (Sebastian) was brought to Site Harry for mild COVID,” one of the sources said. His condition reportedly deteriorated until he finally succumbed to acute myocardial infarction due to complications brought by COVID-19.
Site Harry is a quarantine site located inside the New Bilibid Prison where inmates infected with the novel coronavirus are isolated while undergoing treatment. The site was set up by the Bureau of Corrections with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he has summoned Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Gerald Bantag to confirm the reports.
“I’ll ask him to explain to me all the protocols,” Guevarra said, referring to the protocols of the BuCor when an inmate dies, especially if there is a need for a third party witness during the conduct of cremation to squelch speculations that his death might be a cover-up for an illegal release or escape.
The BuCor is among the agencies under the supervision of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Sebastian was among the high-profile inmates detained at Building 14, a secured facility within the NBP’s maximum security compound.
Sebastian, who was convicted in 2009, testified in the 2016 hearings conducted by the House of Representatives on the alleged involvement of detained opposition Sen. Leila de Lima in illegal drugs trade when she was still the secretary of the DOJ.
HIGH-PROFILE DRUG LORDS
Sotto on Saturday night said he received information that at least nine high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) have died the past weeks due to COVID-19.
Sotto said that based on unofficial reports reaching him, those who died include six Chinese and three Filipinos, including Sebastian.
The information said the inmates were cremated in two crematoriums located in Dasmarinas, Cavite and Binan, Laguna the same day that they died. The Cavite crematorium was allegedly called Panteon De Dasmariñas public cemetery.
“Confirmed lahat sir. Ang nakaka duda, puro Bilibid 19 lang ang namatay, tapos walang documentation. News blackout pa (It’s all confirmed, sir. But what is very doubtful is why only members of the Bilibid 19 have died, and then there are no documentations. There is also news blackout),” Sotto said, citing the text message of his source.
Sotto said he has been trying to get confirmation from Guevarra on the matter but the latter has yet to verify the information as of Saturday night.
Sotto quoted his source as saying that the nine high-profile prisoners allegedly form part of the so-called “Bilibid 19,” composed of 19 high-profile inmates who ran illegal activities inside the NBP. Some of them, according to the source, have claimed that De Lima allowed the illegal drug trade for a fee while she was still justice secretary.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said that he, too, received the same information but “I’m still awaiting confirmation.”
Sotto’s information has been backed by other sources. Both the DOJ and the BuCor though have yet to officially confirm the deaths of the inmates.
Last week, DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said 323 inmates and BuCor personnel managed to recover out of the 342 who were infected with the virus.
He said 18 inmates have died while two — an inmate and a BuCor personnel remained on quarantine.
Perete said the affected inmates came from the NBP and the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong.
The other Bucor penal colonies — Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro, Iwahig in Palawan, San Ramon in Zamboanga City, Davao del Norte and Abuyog in Leyte did not report any cases.
DATA PRIVACY
Bantag later on Sunday confirmed that inmates have indeed succumbed to the virus but refuse to divulge their identities. “As much as we want to inform the public with respect to the names of persons deprived of liberty who died due to COVID-19, the Data Privacy Act prohibits us from doing so. Rest assured the BuCor is doing its best to address this pandemic,” Bantag said in a statement.
BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclad echoed Bantag’s citation of the Data Privacy Act as he dodged questions related to the death of the high-profile drug offenders.
“COVID-19 cases in NBP have no implication to national security, so we don’t need to disclose it,” Chaclad said.
He stressed that they are constrained to release the data because of the Rights to Privacy Act and it is highest on hierarchy on the right to public information, unless it will not be a threat to national security and public safety.
Bantag said BuCor have been doing quick identification, isolation and treatment programs that mitigated the risk brought by the virus.
“In fact, we have a high rate of recovery and we are glad to report to the public that all our interventions appear to be doing well and effective,” Bantag added.
He said the BuCor has also partnered with other government agencies and NGOs to strengthen their efforts against COVID-19. — With Noel Talacay
