{"id":262286,"date":"2020-07-20T07:13:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T11:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=262286"},"modified":"2020-07-20T07:13:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T11:13:40","slug":"palace-leaves-probe-on-death-of-high-profile-inmates-to-doj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/07\/20\/palace-leaves-probe-on-death-of-high-profile-inmates-to-doj\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace leaves probe on death of high-profile inmates to DOJ"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: New Bilibid Prison (Photo By Jovie Naval via Bureau of Corrections\/Website)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday said it will leave the investigation on the death of high-profile inmates, including Jaybee Sebastian, to the Department of Justice (DOJ).<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark following reports that Sebastian died due to acute myocardial infarction related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

However, other reports claimed Sebastian was executed because he refused to stop running his illegal drug trade from within the prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cNagsimula na po ng imbestigasyon ang<\/em>\u00a0Secretary of Justice.\u00a0Pinauubaya na po ng Palasyo kay<\/em>\u00a0Secretary Meynard Guevarra\u00a0ang imbestigasyon na ito<\/em>\u00a0(Investigation being conducted by the Secretary of Justice has begun. The Palace will leave it to Secretary Meynard Guevarra),\u201d he said in a virtual Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

Sebastian, a convicted kidnapper, and carnapper, was a witness and co-accused in one of the drug charges filed against detained Senator Leila de Lima before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC).<\/p>\n

He previously tagged Senator Leila de Lima as protector of the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City during her term as Justice Secretary.<\/p>\n

Guevarra has summoned Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag to report on the death of Sebastian and eight other high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.<\/p>\n

Citing the Data Privacy Act, Bantag said the law “prohibits” the BuCor from naming them in public.<\/p>\n

The inmates are among the 66 occupants of Building 14, the most highly secured facility within Bilibid\u2019s Maximum Security Compound.<\/p>\n

To prevent more inmates from catching Covid-19, Roque assured that all inmates who tested positive for the disease are immediately transferred to an isolation facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeron pong itinayong mga<\/em>\u00a0isolation facilities\u00a0hindi lang po sa mga lokal na kulungan kundi sa<\/em>\u00a0Muntinlupa\u00a0at binigayan pa nga ito ng tulong ng ilang mga dayuhan at saka ng organisasyon tulad ng<\/em>\u00a0[International Committee of the Red Cross] (We have put up isolation facilities not just in local jails but also in Muntinlupa and we were given help by foreigners and organizations like the ICRC),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Bantag said the BuCor is doing its best to contain Covid-19 among inmates given the current level of congestion of facilities in the country.<\/p>\n

Besides conducting \u201cquick\u201d identification, isolation, and treatment of suspected Covid-19 cases, he said the bureau has also partnered with other government agencies, international organizations, and non-government organizations to strengthen its drive against the health crisis.<\/p>\n

As of July 18, there have been 15 inmates who died of Covid-19 at the NBP.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Monday said it will leave the investigation on the death of high-profile inmates, including Jaybee Sebastian, to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":230338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262287,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262286\/revisions\/262287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}