Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra summoned BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag on Monday, July 20, to provide further reports on the recent death of Jaybee Sebastian and other high-profile inmates.
“We have summoned Director General Bantag to the DOJ (Department of Justice) tomorrow (Monday, July 20). We’ll find out what is really happening at the NBP,” Guevarra said in a text message to media.
Guevarra said he would discuss with the BuCor chief if the recent deaths at the NBP were due to COVID-19 or otherwise.
“We are looking at several theories. I expect that there are existing protocols whenever deaths occur inside the prisons… and I will ask Director-General Bantag to explain all protocols,” he added.
Col. Gabriel Chaclag, BuCor spokesman, said that there were persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who died of COVID-19.
“However, as much as we want to inform the public with respect to the names of PDLs who died due to COVID-19, the Data Privacy Act prohibits us from doing so,” Chaclag said.
Also read: Convicted kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian dies of COVID-19
“Rest assured that the BuCor is doing its best to address this pandemic. In fact, we have a high rate of recovery, and we are glad to report to the public that all our interventions appear to be doing well and effective,” he said.
Chaclag added BuCor has been doing quick contact tracing, isolation, and treatment programs as part of the agency’s COVID-19 response for inmates.
DOJ reported on July 15 that BuCor had not recorded new cases of COVID-19 transmission in all of its prisons since July 1.
Meanwhile, the number of cases among BuCor and detention facilities is 343, while 18 already died, and 325 recovered since March.
An officer of Panteon de Dasmariñas reported Sunday the death of convicted kidnapper and high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian due to COVID-19.
Sebastian played a significant role during the Senate investigation on the alleged involvement of Senator Leila de Lima, who is now detained. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II accused Sebastian of running a three-year funding campaign to support de Lima’s senatorial bid in 2016 in exchange for their continuous drug operation inside NBP.