Jaybee Sebastian now willing to talk to gov't —lawyer

Convicted kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian has expressed willingness to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation regarding the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison, his lawyer Eduardo Arriba said on Wednesday.

While Arriba remained tightlipped about how Sebastian plans to help the government, he hinted that his client might testify in the House of Representatives’ ongoing probe on the drug trade inside the NBP.

“I will not give any details but Sebastian is willing to cooperate,” Arriba told reporters after the Ombudsman rejected the filing of Sebastian’s complaint against Senator Leila de Lima and two others.

Asked if Sebastian was still keen on talking only to President Rodrigo Duterte about his alleged knowledge of the drug trade inside the national penitentiary, the lawyer said: “Based on recent developments, posibleng Sebastian will change his mind and heart and he will testify before the inquiry being conducted by Congress. But I don’t want to give any confirmation on that. There’s a possibility.”

Sebastian had earlier indicated that he would only divulge his knowledge of the Bilibid drug trade to Duterte, but the president has rejected his oversture.

Arriba said he will return to the Office of the Ombudsman Thursday with Sebastian’s wife Roxanne, who represents the inmate in the case, to formally file the complaint against De Lima over his client’s continued detention at NBP’s Building 14.

Sebastian was invited to the House justice committee’s investigation into the drug trade inside the NBP because he is allegedly aware about the details of the illicit business.

Arriba, however, said Sebastian is unlikely to attend the resumption of the House probe Thursday since he is still recovering from the wounds he sustained in the Sept. 28 stabbing incident inside the national penitentiary. —JST, GMA News