FORMER Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima received P3 million a month since October 2013 to allow illegal transactions inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), robbery convict Herbert Colanggo alleged yesterday.
During the House justice committee’s inquiry into the illegal drug trade inside the NBP, Colanggo said the hefty sum allegedly given to de Lima monthly served as “PR payola” in exchange for the smuggling of contraband items inside the national penitentiary.
Colanggo said he was permitted to bring truckloads of equipment as well as boxes of beer inside the NBP. He supposedly sold each case of beer for an exhorbitant price of P10 thousand.
He said he was initially asked by fellow convict Jaybee Sebastian to engage into drug trade inside the NBP, but the former declined because of trust issues.
He said he was then allegedly approached by Joenel Sanchez, de Lima’s security aide, two weeks to re-establish Sebastian’s offer to support the plans of de Lima’s senatorial bid in the 2016 elections.
Colanggo said his gang accepted Sanchez’s offer, and became involved in selling 10 kilograms of shabu every month until October 2014.
Sanchez allegedly approached Colanggo again to swindle drug lords in the NBP by collecting 30 to 50 kilograms of illegal drugs without payment, but the latter refused, fearing that he might be at a disadvantage if de Lima lost power.
Colanggo said his refusal led to his transfer to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as de Lima led the raid at the Maximum Security Compound in December 2014.
While he personally pleaded to de Lima to revoke the transfer in exchange of agreeing with Sanchez’ earlier request, he said he remained detained at the NBI for eight months. (pna)
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
