Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag said Thursday he is willing to be removed after several senators said he should leave over the questionable deaths of several high-profile inmates, supposedly from COVID-19, at the New Bilibid Prison.
READ: 19 died of COVID in Bilibid
“If they have lost confidence in me, then remove me,” Bantag told Dobol B sa News TV in Filipino. “I’m willing to go. It’s a big headache being here.”
Earlier this week, Senator Richard Gordon of the Blue Ribbon committee said BuCor officials cannot expect the public would simply accept their claim that 21 inmates—including nine who were convicted of drug offenses–died of COVID-19 and were cremated before anyone else could identify their remains.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III added that the deaths, which went unreported at first, have fueled speculation that the deaths were faked to free the high-profile inmates, including convicted drug lords, or that they were executed.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, called for Bantag’s removal, after he repeatedly withheld information about the deaths by invoking the Data Privacy Act.
BuCor earlier reported that 21 NBP inmates have died from COVID-19, among them Jaybee Sebastian, who testified against detained Senator Leila de Lima, saying she had allowed the illegal drug trade to flourish in the national penitentiary in exchange for bribes that she used in her election campaign.
De Lima has denied the allegations.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would continue its probe of the prison deaths, even if Bantag refuses to take a leave of absence.
Guevarra said he is leaving Bantag’s fate to President Duterte who appointed him to BuCor amid calls for him to leave or be removed from his post for failing to immediately report the deaths of the high-profile inmates.
Guevarra said that while the BuCor is an attached agency of the DOJ, he has no control over the bureau.
“Under the BuCor Law, the DOJ exercises supervision, not control, over the bureau. The BuCor director general is appointed directly by the President, and the latter’s trust is the measure of the DG’s continuance in office,” he said.
However, even if Bantag stays, Guevarra said the NBI would be professional in investigating the demise of the nine high-profile PDLs, who were all convicted for illegal drug offenses. These inmates reportedly died because of COVID-19.
“On the matter of DG Bantag’s taking a leave of absence while the NBI is conducting its probe, we leave it entirely to Bantag’s sound discretion. But the DOJ will ensure that the NBI’s investigation will remain free and unhampered,” he said.
BuCor on Thursday dismissed speculation that the deaths of the high-profile inmates were faked to allow them to escape from prison.
At a Laging Handa press briefing, BuCor spokesman Col. Gabriel Chaclag pointed out that this is impossible as this supposed “grand conspiracy” would require the involvement of “hundreds” of BuCor staff.
He assured the public that there was no truth to the speculation, and that nobody was taking bribes to set inmates free.
Chaclag, meanwhile, insisted that the BuCor had followed proper protocols in the death of the high profile inmates, noting that the bureau has the necessary documents to prove that.
“We have pictures, our doctors we trust. We cannot overemphasize the reputation of our doctors and medical personnel,” Chaclag said.
He also ruled out that Bantag could have been behind Sebastian’s execution.
“COVID-19 does not pick its victims,” he said.
Chaclag said BuCor welcomed any investigation into the death of the inmates.
As of July 22, there were 350 confirmed cases among inmates and BuCor personnel. Of that number, 260 are prisoners with 232 recoveries.
Chaclag also said the number of deaths stood at 21.
READ: Gordon: Bilibid deaths stink with cover-up