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MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang would rather not delve on the question of liability of the New Bilibid Prison director in the disappearance of convicted murderer Rolito Go on Wednesday, August 15.
Go, who was found guilty of killing student Eldon Maguan in 1991, was discovered missing after a headcount at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa Wednesday morning. His family claimed that he and his nurse Clemence Yu have been kidnapped and that the abductors are asking for a P1-million ransom.
ABS-CBN reported however, that Eldon’s brother, Elliot, has information that Go, who is suffering from colon cancer, is in a hospital where his daughter is an intern.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered NBP director Gaudencio Pangilinan, a retired Army general, to investigate the matter and ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to form a task force on the incident.
Go’s disappearance has again put Pangilinan in the hot seat.
In April this year, the Philippine Star reported that an inter-agency panel recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against him and 6 other officials of the Bureau of Corrections for their alleged involvement in the P1.4 million renovation of the NBP building, which was reportedly done without public bidding.
The following month, in May, prison guard Kabungsuan Makilala filed a complaint against Pangilinan and 5 others with the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly violating the procurement law. Makilala accused them of resorting to small procurements to skirt the law, which requires public bidding for government projects worth P500,000.
But Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they would rather see how the probe will turn out first, adding that they will defer to De Lima since the New Bilibid Prisons is an attached agency of the Department of Justice.
“I know that there are concerns about issues on confidence or competence of Pangilinan but let’s just wait for the results of all the investigation,” Lacierda said.
In 2011, Ernesto Diokno, Bureau of Corrections director, resigned after it was discovered that former Batangas governor Antonio Leviste, who was serving time for homicide, was allowed to go out of the NBP premises. – Rappler.com
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