BuCor OIC Catapang eyes plunder charge vs. Bantag

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Wednesday said he will file complaints of plunder against suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag.

“Oo, mag file ako plunder [yes, I will file plunder],” Catapang told Super Radyo dzBB.

According to Catapang, this was because only around 60% of the prison cells being built by BuCor had been completed.

“Imagine P1 billion ‘yung pera ng gobyerno para pag papagawa ng prison cells. Dapat doon nga ma de-decongest ‘yung ano eh, ‘yung BuCor,” he said.

(Imagine, the government's budget for building prison cells was around P1 billion. This is how BuCor should have been decongested.)

“Eh, isipin niyo, 95% nasingil na, nakuha na, na pera na. Eh, 60% lang ang tapos. Walang bubong. Papaano papatirahin ‘yung mga PDL doon? So naalantala din ‘yung ating reform agenda,” he added.

(Around 95% have been claimed already, but only 60% is finished. There’s no roof. How will the PDLs live there? Our reform agenda was also delayed.)

According to Catapang, several BuCor officers said they were ordered by higher officials including Bantag to “doctor” the project documents to make it seem like they were already finished.

“The people responsible to assess the permits or the extent of the accomplishment accepted that indeed they were told to doctor the documents saying this is already 95% finished. Truthfully it’s not yet, only 60%,” he told reporters in a chance interview according to a tweet of dzBB's Manny Vargas.

WATCH: (1/2) Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Officer-in-Charge Dir. Gen. Gregorio Catapang, Jr., desididong sampahan ng reklamong plunder si suspended BuCor Chief Gerald Bantag dahil sa umano'y anomalya sa pagtatayo ng 4 na gusali ng BuCor. | via @VargasMannysen pic.twitter.com/aF1bblSzz8

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) December 21, 2022

“It cannot happen that just a simple employee ordered that they [documents] may be doctored. Galing sa taas ‘yung order [The order came from above]. They mentioned the name of Bantag as the one who ordered them,” he said.

Catapang said they are eyeing to file the plunder charges against Bantag by the end of the year, or by 2023. He, however, declined to name the BuCor personnel involved in the assessment, saying the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, the BuCor OIC said he was instructed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to request a special audit from the Commission on Audit (COA) on the billion-worth projects.

“Unfortunately, we were asking the COA how come this happened? Apat na payments ang nagawa and yet there’s no post audit. We already informed the Secretary about the situation and he told me to write COA and he would endorse it to conduct a special audit of these projects amounting to P1 billion,” he added.

Bantag's legal counsel Rocky Balisong said they will answer in the proper forum.

“They can always file. We will wait for it and we will answer it in the proper forum,” he said in a message to GMA News Online.

Bantag was suspended following the death of Jun Villamor, the inmate who allegedly acted as the middleman in the plot to kill broadcaster Percy Lapid.

Since then, Bantag has been linked to a number of controversies, including being identified as one of the masterminds behind the killing of both Lapid and Villamor. He has since denied the allegation.

His excavation at the New Bilibid Prison has also come into question, with Bantag saying they were building a diving pool but then also telling Remulla they were looking for the Yamashita treasure.

On Monday, two gang leaders at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) said they will file charges against Bantag after he allegedly stabbed them while drunk.

Gang commanders

Catapang said they took the affidavit of gang commanders Ronald Usman and Jonathan Cañeta on Tuesday.

“Kahapon, kinunan na namin ng affiavit itong mga dalawa na sinaksak sa kamay at sa hita. Hopefully, mai-file namin before Friday ‘yung kaso dito sa Muntinlupa. Dito naman nangyari ang krimen,” Catapang said.

(We took their affidavits yesterday. Hopefully, we can file this before Friday here at Muntinlupa since the crime happened here.)

He said the complaint may be for physical harm or physical injury.

“Sila ang mag fa-file ng kaso. Ia-assist na lang po namin dito sa ano, may mga abogado naman kaming nag a-assist sa kanila,” he said.

(They will file the case. We have lawyers who can assist them.)

Leyte inmate stabbed

Meanwhile, Catapang said they received information that former BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta ordered an inmate that he got into a disagreement with to be stabbed.

Authorities have pointed to Zulueta as the other alleged mastermind in the Percy Lapid case.

“Opo, ‘yun nga po. Ngayon iniimbestigahan na namin ‘yung PDL na sumaksak at ang aming balita ay ito’y order ni Zulueta dahil parang hindi sila nagkaigi nung sinaksak sa utos ni Zulueta,” he said.

(Yes, we are investigating the PDL who stabbed him and we got news that this was ordered by Zulueta because they were in disagreement.)

Catapang said the inmate was initially at the NBP but was transferred to Leyte following the disagreement.

He said the PDL was stabbed in the chest there.

“Nung nandoon naman siya sa Leyte, tinira naman siya ng isang PDL doon, pinagsasaksak siya. Nung dumalaw ako sa Leyte, nandoon pa sa ospital. Sabi ko eh dalhin niyo na ‘yan dito para ma sigurado natin,” he said.

(Once he was in Leyte, he was attacked by another PDL there. When I visited Leyte, he was still in the hospital. I told them to bring him here so we can secure him.)

For his part, Zulueta's lawyer Lauro Gacayan said they cannot comment until they receive the affidavit.

Lapid was shot dead in Las Piñas City on October 3 while Villamor died at the New Bilibid Prison.

An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun showed Villamor's remains to have a “history of asphyxia by plastic bag suffocation.” 

Lookout Bulletin Order

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a lookout bulletin for Bantag and Zulueta in connection with the deaths of Lapid and Villamor.

“Well, it’s not a guarantee that they cannot leave the country. But that would also be an added layer of monitoring the whereabouts of Bantag and Zulueta,” attorney Danilo Pelagio, a lawyer for Lapid's family, told ANC.

However, the DOJ said this was for “monitoring purposes only.”

When sought for comment on the lookout order, Gacayan said this is because the Justice Secretary has no power to stop any citizen from traveling abroad.

“Under Article III, Section 6 of our Constitution, the right to travel may not be impaired except: Upon Lawful Order of a court—which means there must be a  pending criminal case against a person before the Regional Trial Court or Sandiganbayan,” he told GMA News Online.

“If my client wants to travel abroad, there is no constitutional prohibition against it. There is no pending criminal case against him yet which is pending in court,” he added. 

In an ambush interview, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the issuance of a lookout bulletin order is normal in the filing of complaints.

“We really do that for all cases, hindi lang sila [not just them],” he said.

Catapang on Wednesday afternoon arrived at the DOJ for a meeting with Remulla.

“Kasi mag yearend na eh. We have to get our act together kaya we decided to meet today,” Remulla said when asked if he knew about the alleged unfinished buildings.

(Because it is the yearend. We have to get our act together so we decided to meet today.)

Meanwhile, asked about the possible plunder charge, Remulla said Catapang will advise him properly on the matter.

“Syempre alam niya naman ‘yun. He’s a very responsible person. He knows what he’s doing. Alam naman niya ginagawa niya,” he said.

(Of course, he knows that. He’s a very responsible person. He knows what he’s doing.) — with Sundy Locus/RSJ/KBK/BM, GMA Integrated News