De Lima wants to investigate ‘lack of transparency’ in COVID-19 deaths in Bilibid

Senator Leila De Lima has become the third senator to formally seek a Senate investigation into the recent deaths of high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison, allegedly due to COVID-19.

In filing Senate Resolution 491, the detained opposition senator cited data that over 476 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) died from January to July this year—including 21 COVID-19 cases and 24 suspected COVID-19 cases.

Nine of these COVID-19 fatalities were high-profile inmates including Jaybee Sebastian, who implicated De Lima in the illegal drug trade at the national penitentiary.

De Lima said showing the inmates' death certificates will not suffice to prove that they indeed died due to the infection.

"Even if the BuCor later released the death certificates of said nine high-profile PDLs, because of lack of transparency and poor track record of BuCor, there are speculations that the said nine PDLS may have not died due to COVID-19, even to the extent that their deaths were simulated," De Lima said.

She said that even before the COVID-19 crisis, the conditions in the country's penitentiaries were "subhuman" due to congested cells, unhygienic food, and inadequate healthcare services.

Aside from the possible lapses in health protocols at Bilibid, the senator said the "pandemic can be a convenient excuse to cover up torture and killings of PDLs or worse, to even simulate deaths of PDLs."

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Risa Hontiveros have also filed separate resolutions seeking a Senate probe on the same issue.

Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the committee on justice, said he would wait for the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation on the Bilibid deaths before starting a Senate inquiry as a sign of respect to a co-equal branch of government. — BM, GMA News