Ex-NBP official says she quit due to orders to collect money from Napoles, Yu Yuk Lai

Relieved New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Superintendent Angie Bautista on Tuesday said she resigned from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the administration of former chief Gerald Bantag after she was ordered to collect money from persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).

Bautista said that she resigned on May 15, 2020 due to the death of her child and a difference in principles with the management.

“Unang una po sir, namatay po yung anak ko. Pangalawa po, magkakaiba na po kami ng prinsipyo,” Bautista said during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

(First, my child died. Second, our principles differed.) 

When asked to explain the latter, she answered, “Pinapangolekta po nila ako sa Correctional eh. Pinangongolekta po ako kay Janet Napoles tsaka kay Yu Yuk Lai.”

(They were asking me to collect money at the Correctional [Institution for Women]. They were asking me to collect from Janet Napoles and Yu Yuk Lai.)

Yu Yuk Lai was an alleged "drug queen" who died in 2021, while Janet Lim Napoles is a businesswoman who has been linked to the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Bautista said she served in BuCor from September 2019 to May 2020 after she was appointed by Bantag.

Later, Senator Francis Tolentino cited a letter from former Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra stating that Bautista cannot be designated to a position exercising jurisdiction over regular and career employees.

When sought for comment, Guevarra said he issued the letter to Bantag on November 4, 2019. He said the letter negated Bautista’s designation as officer-in-charge of CIW.

He said this was on the grounds that under existing Civil Service Commission rules and regulations on appointments, the designation of personnel applies only to employees holding permanent appointments to career positions.

Guevarra clarified that the letter was addressed to Bantag only and not Bautista.

Bautista recently asked to be relieved as NBP superintendent amid an ongoing investigation of allegations against her.

She was appointed by sitting BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang Jr., who took over after Bantag was suspended following the death of an inmate. — BM, GMA Integrated News