WHEN she was still Justice secretary, Senator Leila de Lima frequented the New Bilibid Prison compound several times since January 2013 to visit big-time drug dealer Jaybee Sebastian, an inmate told lawmakers Wednesday.
During the second day of the House inquiry on the proliferation of drugs at the national penitentiary, witness Noel Martinez said Sebastian, a fellow inmate, sought his assistance to raise funds for the senatorial bid of the former Justice chief.
Martinez described Sebastian as the Sigue-Sigue Commando commander and chairman of the NBP’s Presidyo Side maximum security compound.
Martinez said it was January 2013 when De Lima started to see Sebastian at his office in the NBP.
“In January 2013, one morning, Jaybee called me and said Secretary Leila de Lima was coming over to visit him at his office in the afternoon,” said Martinez, reading out his sworn affidavit before the House justice committee.
“When I went there sometime in the afternoon, Secretary De Lima was there, leaders of different groups of inmates were also there and each of them was introduced to me and to Secretary De Lima,” he added.
Martinez claimed that a “centralized” drug trade at the NBP was instituted when several groups within the NBP were organized to raise funds for De Lima upon the orders of Sebastian.
In return, Martinez said Sebastian promised to extend “protection and special treatment” to those who sold drugs to raise funds for De Lima.
Martinez, commander or “bosyo” of the Genuine Ilocano Group, said he didn’t want his group getting involved and recommended to Sebastian people who could peddle the drugs outside the prison.
Martinez said that during the last months of 2013, Sebastian told him that De Lima would see him again at the prison.
“And true enough, she arrived at his office,” Martinez said in Filipino.
“In all instances that Secretary De Lima had gone to the shelter of Jaybee, we let Jaybee and Secretary De Lima talk in private after we ate. In some instances, on the other hand, Secretary De Lima’s driver, Jonel Sanchez, was the one visiting Jaybee to collect the money,” Martinez said.
Martinez also said Sebastian later confessed that De Lima and Sanchez were no longer on good terms.
“Alias Makoy was the one going to Bilibid to collect the money,” the witness said, but did not specify any date when the visits happened.
In his affidavit, Martinez also mentioned that former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Jesus Bucayu had demanded P500,000 from him, through a certain “Colonel Elly.”
Martinez said he managed to produce P300,000 for Col. Elly, who then demanded money from Martinez every week.
In his affidavit, Martinez said he is one of the so-called Bilibid 19 who were transferred from the NBP to the National Bureau of Investigation following a raid at the penitentiary in December 2014.
Also on Wednesday, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez extended immunity to four more witnesses of the Justice Department, who would testify on the proliferation of illegal drugs at the NBP during De Lima’s tenure as Justice secretary.
During the second day of the House justice committee hearing, panel chairman and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali announced Alvarez has already granted the request of the four witnesses to be granted immunity from suit for any incriminating matter that they may bring up during their testimonies.
“May I just inform the body that the grant of immunity to other witnesses has been approved and signed by the House Speaker,” Umali said.
The four who were granted immunity were NBP inmates Jojo Baligad, Froilan Trestiza and Hans Anton and Justice Department employee Jesusa Francisco.
On Monday, Alvarez approved the grant of immunity to six other witnesses including high-profile NBP inmate Herbert Colanggo and convicted kidnapper and former police officer Rodolfo Magleo.
The Presidential Security Group said Wednesday it is investigating Sanchez, one of its former members before he became a security aide for De Lima. On Tuesday, Colanggo had tagged Sanchez as De Lima’s bagman.
PSG commander Brig. Gen. Rolando Bautista said Sanchez, who is confined to barracks, is being investigated, while the group’s spokesman, Lt. Col. Michael Bautista, said they were ready to present Sanchez before the congressional probe if he is subpoenaed.
Shortly after being relieved, Sanchez was assigned to be the security aide of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, before he returned to his mother unit in the Philippine Air Force.
Sanchez’s wife is also a member of the Presidential Security Group.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers called on private companies to donate state-of-the-art signal jammers to the Justice Department to stop drug lords from doing business from inside the NBP.
“Aside from using cellular phones for the drug trade, inmates use phones to arrange delivery of contraband and execute plans of retaliation. In all legality, convicted criminals have no business using communication gadgets while inside the New Bilibid Prison,” Barbers said.
Barbers said the Justice Department has admitted that they have no technology to jam 3G or LTE-capable mobile phones.
Barbers, who chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs, also asked his fellow lawmakers to look into the source of shabu being traded inside Bilibid.
“The witnesses are claiming that shabu laboratories are no longer operating inside. But based on their affidavits, you can see there was a lot of shabu going around inside the prison. Where did this come from?” Barbers asked.
“I am also wondering how the different contraband were brought inside the penitentiary without the knowledge of jail guards and other officials. Also, Very Important Prisoners could not have built their luxurious and state-of-the-art kubols without the explicit permission from the higher ups. This is very alarming. We need to further investigate the involvement of concerned personalities so they can be held accountable,” the lawmaker said. With John Paolo Bencito