Hontiveros calls for inquiry on deaths of high-profile Bilibid inmates

By JOHN CARLO M. CAHINHINAN

Senator Risa Hontiveros wants a thorough investigation over the reported death of convicted drug lord Jaybee Sebastian and other high profile inmates inside the national penitentiary.

Hontiveros said it was “baffling” how the COVID-19 pandemic was able to wipe out several convicted drug lords inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) compound with just “one blow.”

Sebastian and at least eight others reportedly passed away and were cremated last July 18 in a private crematorium in Dasmariñas City, Cavite.

According to Hontiveros “questions are being raised surrounding these high-profile deaths.”

“For the sake of transparency, they need to be clarified,” Hontiveros said.

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) earlier confirmed that drug convict Sebastian, along with other high-profile inmates namely Benjamin Marcelo, Zhang Zhu Li, Jimmy Kinsing Hung, Francis Go, Jimmy Yang, Eugene Chua, Ryan Ong, and Amin Imam Buratong, succumbed to COVID-19. Their remains were immediately cremated at Panteon de Dasmarinas.

Hontiveros stressed that the “lack of reliable information on the deaths of the inmates, the track record of some officials within the BuCor, and the improbability of the fatality rate, creates enough doubt in the mind of a reasonable person on the truthfulness of these deaths,”

The lawmaker noted the alleged corruption reported inside BuCor as revealed in previous Senate inquiries, including cases of “Good Conduct Time Allowance for Sale” and other schemes in which high-ranking prison officials would dispense favors to rich inmates, in exchange for monetary consideration.

Hontiveros explained that the issue “casts a cloud of doubt over said deaths and seemingly secretive and immediate disposal of remains.”

Hontiveros also urged the investigation to look into the health and sanitary conditions in penal institutions “so that the abnormally high number of COVID-19 fatalities might be addressed.”

“By conducting this investigation, we may be able to put an end to speculation and improve our response to the pandemic within our penal institutions,” she said.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)