Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II admitted on Wednesday, September 28, that despite putting the New Bilibid Prison under the watch of the Special Action Force (SAF), the drug trade has not completely stopped.
“90 percent lang ang napigilan namin. Kahit papaano meron pa ding nakakapasok. Ang mga shabu maaring tinago nila sa pader. ‘Di natin malaman saan nanggagaling yan,”Aguirre told GMA News TV’s News to Go.
This statement came after a supposed pot session inside the Bilibid led to a riot that caused the stabbing incident. High-profile inmate Tony Co, while fellow inmates Jaybee Sebastian, Peter Co, and Vicente Sy were hospitalized after sustaining stab wounds.
Aguirre’s admittance echoed the Bureau of Correction’s earlier admission that they were only able to confiscate 90 percent of the contrabands hidden by inmates.
Aguirre narrated that according to the version of the story he heard about the riot, the Chinese inmates were having a pot session in the mess hall when another inmate, former police Major [Clarence] Dongail reprimanded them at around 7:30 am. Then, Tony Co reportedly stabbed Dongail, causing the riot.
“Sinabi sa kanila ‘wag kayo mag-shabu dahil tayo lahat maapektuhan dito.’ Parang doon sa kwarto ng inmate yun, tapos pumunta dun sa kwarto ni Jaybee Sebastian si Major Dongail. Sinabi din siguro na nagsha-shabu ang mga Intsik. ‘Di nagtagal, pumasok si Tony Co at sinugod ng saksak si Major Dongail, nagkaroon ng riot,” Aguirre narrated.
The Bureau of Corrections and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group are still investigating the incident, which is expected to conclude within one week.
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Sebastian’s account differs from Dongail
Sebastian has a different version of how the stabbing incident unfolded.
During the initial interview, Dongail claimed that his fellow inmate Edgar Cinco alerted him to the Chinese inmates’ pot session, which led to him reprimanding them, said BuCor spokesperson Sonny del Rosario.
Sebastian, on the other hand, said that there was no pot session or altercation and that the attack was unprovoked. He said he was attacked by inmate Tomas Domeña while watching TV in Building 14’s mess hall. He added that Domeña was seen conversing with Dongail before attacking him.
After checking Tony Co’s room, authorities did not find shabu or anything related to drug use, according to Undersecretary Reynante Orceo. Other inmates’ testimonies and Police Guard 1 Dennis Alfonso’s statement supported Orceo’s claim.
Orceo said that the BuCor is going to run random drug tests on inmates, starting with who are currently hospitalized after the riot, to make sure that Bilibid inmates are drug-free.
Sources: (gmanetwrok.com)
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