De Lima asks Bantag: How come high-profile inmates in Bilibid’s Bldg. 14 got infected?

Senator Leila De Lima on Tuesday questioned Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag's reluctance to name the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates who allegedly succumbed to COVID-19.

In a statement, the opposition lawmaker wondered if some "foul business" is holding back Bantag from disclosing further information, especially about the high-profile prisoners who are kept in Building 14—a highly secure facility in the national penitentiary.

De Lima pointed out that the big-time inmates, including drug lords, are isolated from the rest of the prison population, making them less likely susceptible to catching the virus compared to others.

"Their population does not exceed 50, they have their own separate cells, and access to their quarters is much more restricted than those of ordinary maximum and medium security prisoners," De Lima, detained in CampCrame, said.

"It is incredible that those in Bldg. 14 have an unusually higher infection and death rate than ordinary prisoners in maximum and medium security compounds," she added.

Bantag on Monday confirmed that 21 inmates have already died due to COVID-19 in the NBP, nine of whom were high-profile. However, he maintained that he cannot disclose their names pursuant to the Data Privacy Act—an argument countered by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Richard Gordon.

BuCor spokesperson Colonel Gabriel Chaclag on Sunday said some of the COVID-19 cases in Bilibid came from Building 14.

The Department of Justice said the BuCor has confirmed that Jaybee Sebastian—a high-profile inmate who implicated De Lima to the illegal drug trade in Bilibid—was among those who succumbed to the virus.

De Lima said she is not discounting the possibility of bribes in exchange of being "turned to ashes and resurrected with new identities" outside Bilibid.

"Kung si Bong Go ay nakaisip ng Balik Probinsiya-Kalat COVID-19 Program, mukhang ito namang si Bantag ay nakaimbento ng Balik Abo-Biglang Laya Program," she said.

"O, tinumba na nang tuluyan ang mga high-profile inmates na ito o ilan sa kanila, to permanently silence them for some ugly truths they know or knew? Truth, nowadays, is such an elusive commodity!" she added.

Bantag has denied the conspiracy theories surfacing from what he claims as COVID-19 deaths in Bilibid.

"Ang challenge ko sa kanila, magharap sila ng isang buhay na tao at sasabihin ng buhay na tao na ‘yun na, ‘Ako ang pinatakas. Ako ang nagbayad. Ako ‘yung patay na ‘yun sa death certificate’,” Bantag said.

“Hangga’t walang ganun. Huwag silang maghaka-haka,” he added. — BM, GMA News