MANILA — Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. De Lima has ordered an investigation into reports that some high-profile inmates are being allowed to undergo medical treatment in private hospitals.
“I have directed the undersecretary-in-charge (Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III) to immediately probe those reports…,” De Lima said in a text message on Monday to reporters covering the DOJ.
Last May, convicted drug lord Ricardo Camata, alias “Chacha,” commander of the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang, was taken to the Metropolitan Hospital in Manila due to lung ailment.
On May 27, 2014, Herbert Colangco, alias “Ampang,” was brought to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
Colangco is the leader of the bank robbery gang responsible for the heists in 2003 in Pampanga province and the cities of Quezon and Paranaque in 2005.
On May 13, 2014, Amin Buratong, convicted operator of a shabu tiangge (drug flea market), was taken to Medical City in Pasig City due to recurring coronary artery disease and liver ailment.