Sen. Panfilo Lacson said mafia controls Bilibid, not the government, Monday.
Lacson said high-profile inmates run the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
“‘Yung mga high profile inmates naging napakamakapangyarihan at napakamayaman na sila halos ang nagpapatakbo ng kulungan, hindi na ang gobyerno. Kasi sila na ang nagpapatakbo e,” said Sen. Lacson.
(The high profile inmates have become so powerful and so wealthy that they almost run the jail, not the government. Because they are the ones who operate.)
According to him, the situation worsened because the government seemed “helpless.”
Lacson added mafia controls Bilibid because of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials cannot do anything.
According to him, 80 percent of illegal drug transactions occur inside the NBP.
According to earlier reports, a witness exposed in the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing that GCTA for early release was for sale.
Inmates can also get hired killers even inside the national penitentiary.
Last week, a 53-year-old BuCor official Ruperto Traya was killed in Muntinlupa amid controversy over the GCTA for sale.
BuCor doctor accused of corruption in Bilibid hospital
Convicted mayor accused BuCor Doctor Ursicio Cenas of receiving bribe money from him and drug lords to stay in New Bilibid Prison’s hospital.
An inmate and former Bukidnon Mayor Jose Galario Jr. said they gave P8,000 to Cenas while he was in the hospital. He gave another P8,000 for faster processing of his medical abstract.
Cenas denied the allegations, but he failed to convince the senators, so Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa filed a motion to cite Cenas in contempt.