3 BuCor execs axed over ‘GCTA for sale’

MANILA, Philippines — Three officials have been ordered dismissed from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and charged before the court by the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly accepting bribes to facilitate the early release of a prisoner last year.

Found guilty by the ombudsman of administrative offenses warranting their dismissal from the BuCor were Corrections Technical Service Officer 2 Ramoncito Roque, officer-in-charge of the New Bilibid Prison’s Inmate Documents and Processing Section; NBP Correctional Senior Inspector Maria Belinda Bansil and Corrections Officer 3 Veronica Buño.

A copy of the 16-page decision dated Jan. 20 and provided to reporters yesterday cited the three as having committed grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

Their dismissal carries the accessory penalties of forfeiture of their retirement benefits; cancellation of their civil service eligibility and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

The ombudsman, through a separate resolution also released to media yesterday, recommended the filing of cases of violation of Republic Act 3019 (The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and indirect bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code against Roque, Bansil and Buño.

Their dismissal from the BuCor and criminal indictment before the Regional Trial Court of Muntinlupa City were approved on Jan. 28 by Ombudsman Samuel Martires.

The ombudsman said the three allegedly conspired with one another to collect P50,000 from Yolanda Camilon in exchange for the early release of her common-law husband, Godfrey Gamboa, an inmate at the NBP in Muntinlupa City.

Evidence and the sworn statement obtained by the ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO) sufficiently established the conspiracy among the three to sell good conduct time allowance (GCTA) credits in order to release Gamboa.

Camilon’s testimony that she had made three payments (P10,000, P20,000 and P20,000) between February and March 2019 to Roque and Bansil was bolstered by the digital forensic findings by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which proved her mobile phone communication history with Bansil and Buño, who had assured her of Gamboa’s release.

However, despite the payments, Camilon’s husband was never released.

His case came to the fore when the Senate investigated the issue of the anomalous implementation and sale of GCTA credits to convicts which hit the headlines when rape and murder convict Antonio Sanchez – the former mayor of Calauan, Laguna – was ordered released.

The ombudsman said the three BuCor officials’ bare denial is “untenable and deserves scant consideration” as opposed to Camilon’s “positive and straightforward” testimony during the Senate hearing on Sept. 23, 2019 in which she narrated how she completed her payment in three tranches following constant follow-ups by Bansil and Buño.

“Bansil and Buño, who have direct contact with the inmates, took advantage of their positions to communicate with Camilon for pecuniary motives, while Roque, who has access to the prison records of inmates, including that of Camilon’s husband, also took advantage of his position by representing to Camilon that he can manipulate the computation of her husband’s GCTA,” the ombudsman’s decision read.

At the justice department, Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he supports the decision of the ombudsman to dismiss the three BuCor officials implicated in selling GCTA credits for the early release of prisoners.

“I have read the partial decision of the ombudsman… I fully agree with the decision,” Guevarra said.

“I was present during the Senate hearings and personally heard the testimony of the witnesses and observed the demeanor of the respondents. I have now given instructions to the BuCor administration to implement the judgment, as directed by the ombudsman, without prejudice to the resolution of any appeal that the respondents may take,” he said.

The ombudsman is still investigating 27 other BuCor officials in connection with the release of almost 2,000 heinous crime convicts due to the alleged anomalous implementation of Republic Act 10592, the GCTA law.

“May this decision of the ombudsman serve as a stern warning to all personnel of the BuCor who are minded to undermine the integrity of their own agency,” the justice secretary said. – With Evelyn Macairan