Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre brought witnesses against his predecessor, now Senator Leila de Lima, during the Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 hearings of the House Justice Committee.
Only in the Philippines could hardened criminals and racketeers of all types dress decently, be escorted by fully armed hooded SWAT teams to the august halls of Congress, face the congressmen eye to eye, exchange banter and laughter with them, denounce a former secretary of justice (de Lima), and feel not much guilt for the effort. As secretary of justice, de Lima had overall supervision over the New Bilibid Prisons or National Penitentiary in suburban Muntinlupa City, 22 kms south of Manila.
Executing affidavits testifying to the truth of their allegations, six con-men appeared before the House on Sept. 20. They took turns relating nefarious activities allegedly perpetrated by De Lima and her “partners” in crime. In the process, they managed to destroy de Lima and possibly lay the foundation for her eventual prosecution and possibly ouster from the 24-member Senate itself.
De Lima’s possible misdeeds—corruption, abuse of power, and naked political ambition that blindsided her and relegated her to the wrong side of morality and history, perhaps irretrievably.
Rodolfo T. Magleo, 54, is a former police chief inspector (major). He has been at the National Penitentiary’s Maximum Security Compound since 2004. He chairs the Kalasag Organization of former policemen who are imprisoned and are helping in the maintenance of peace and order.
He told the congressmen that during De Lima’s stint as secretary of justice, the MSC became known as “Little Las Vegas” “because of rampant proliferation of drugs (shabu, marijuana, ecstasy pills), gambling (online cockfighting, dice, cards, cara y cruz, and billiards), concerts attended by popular singers and celebrities (Mocha Girls, Rufa Mae Quinto, Ethel Booba, Sharon Cuneta), and prostitutes (they were referred to as ‘tilapia’).” “Almost 80 percent of the inmates had cellphones and gadgets,” said Magleo.
More disturbingly, during de Lima’s time as DoJ secretary, related Magleo, the MSC became notorious as the Drug Trade Center of the Philippines “because it covered the sale of drugs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao by foreign drug lord inmates (Chinese, Malaysian, Hongkong, Taiwanese and African nationals) as well as Filipino drug lord inmates supplying shabu to the local market.”
So huge was the illegal drugs trade that it ran into billions. One drug lord alone, inside the NBP, a certain Peter Co, had collectibles in 2012 alone of about P1 billion.
Magleo recalled he met secretary de Lima and her driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, in mid-2011, together with three other leader-inmates: Benny Cabreles of Genuine Ilocano Group, Froilan Trestiza of Batang City Jail (BCJ) group, and Joseph Mostrales, the mayor (leader) of the Genuine Ilocano Group. They were summoned to the Batang City Jail Park inside the MSC.
In that meeting, according to Magleo, De Lima asked the support of the four inmate leaders “to maintain peace and order inside the Bilibid compound.” De Lima instructed Ronnie Dayan to list down their cell phone numbers so they could be contacted readily.
De Lima introduced her driver, Dayan, as a Philippine Army captain and a native of Urbiztondo, Pangasinan where Ilocano is also spoken.
Dayan reportedly told the four prisoner leaders De Lima was running for senator in the 2013 elections. “I am lucky to be the bodyguard of a senator,” Dayan was supposed to have told the inmates, and that “I was asked to run for mayor of Urbiztondo by de Lima who will finance my candidacy.”
Magleo pretended to be envious of Dayan. “You are indeed, lucky, bro. Can I be your bodyguard when I am released from jail?” he told his fellow Pangalatok. To which Dayan replied: “We Panggalatok are macho. That’s our only capital in this life.”
“Yes, I have to be macho too,” the former police inspector retorted, “so that when I get out of this place, I could find a woman who could finance my candidacy as baranggay chairman.” The grizzled men let out loud guffaws. The meeting lasted for an hour. Soon after, the inmates were free to use their cellphones inside the MSC.
Their joy was short-lived, however. Magleo said he and his fellow partner-leaders were dethroned as leaders after they failed to meet their P50,000 a week quota demanded by Dayan.
One prisoner was able to cough up P100,000 in weekly quota and thus became the commander of the gang. Accordingly, Dayan began collecting huge amounts from prison inmate commanders Gerry Pepino of Batman, Froilan Trestiza of BCJ, JB Sebastian of Commando group, and Noel Martinez of GIs. De Lima’s aide allegedly collected the amounts through personal visits at the penitentiary and through deposits in BDO bank.
Just before Christmas in December 2014, the inmate leaders got their shock of their life. A group of drug lords called Bilibid 19 were suddenly removed from the Bilibid and transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Manila. Magleo wasn’t surprised about the move, he said, because three days before the relocation, JB Sebastian had told him about the plan. The latter warned Magleo that anyone who did not cooperate with him would be removed from the MSC.
Involved in the scheme to get rid of uncooperative Chinese and Filipino inmate-leaders were a former police superintendent Rafael Cardenio of PMA Class 1982 and ex-PSI Lorieman Manrique who was serving as Cardenio’s escort.
The motive was pecuniary. Removing rival drug lords would give Sebastian a sort of monopoly of the lucrative drug trade inside the penitentiary. They could take advantage of their closeness to (Prisons Director) Bucayo and secretary de Lima.
Bucayo and de Lima knew that JB financed bureau affairs and owned the canteen at the Visiting Hall. BJ also bought the computer units and renovated the E-Dalaw facility. All this information, Magleo claimed, were told to him in confidence by BJ himself.
The removal of BJ’s rival drug lords from the Bilibid 19 elicited surprise and comments among the inmates and in media. They wondered why BJ was left alone to lord it over at the MSC.
Magleo warned BJ about the talk. “You could be in danger,” he told BJ. The latter was unfazed. “I am guarded by a platoon of PNP personnel from the PAOCC (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission) requested by ex-Supt. Rafael Cardeno.”
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