Lawmaker, BuCor prober confirm: Rolito Go operates lending firm from NBP

MANILA, Philippines - Road rage convict Rolito Go is reportedly involved in a lending business and operates it from inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP), a lawmaker and a Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) investigator said yesterday.

Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, one of several lawmakers who conducted an ocular inspection of the NBP recently, said that based on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Go’s wife and children are the incorporators of the Prime Consortium and Finance Corp. (PCFC).

The family of Go’s victim, Eldon Maguan, earlier claimed that Go owns and manages the business while serving his sentence at the NBP.

Inspector Eugene Ciruela, deputy chief of BuCor special investigation team, confirmed that Go frequently leaves the compound and goes to his lending business in Muntinlupa instead of going to the hospital.

He said Go’s business address is just 100 meters away from 536-hectare penitentiary compound. Ciruela said he once went to Go’s office and inquired about getting a loan, and one of the Go’s employees said he had just left.

Maguan’s family also revealed earlier that Go had been enjoying “living out” privileges because he was engaged in a loan scheme in which several NBP officials and jail guards borrowed money from him.

Go, who is reportedly suffering from colon cancer, was already a living-out inmate since March 2008 even he was not yet qualified under the BuCor manual, according to Rosario, Eldon’s mother.

Go was also accorded sleeping-out privileges, meaning that he was living outside the minimum security compound. His hut has floor and wall tiles complete with toilet, exhaust fan and basic kitchen amenities including TV and DVD player.

Quimbo said illegal and unregistered bigtime businesses like usury, drugs, prostitution and gambling are just some of the shenanigans going on inside NBP, according to the lawmakers who conducted the ocular inspection.

The Maguan family also claimed that Go uses cell phones to continue operating his construction business while in the penitentiary. Go managed to have cell phones, a prohibited item in the NBP, because he gave loans to jail guards, sources told Mrs. Maguan.  

Ciruela also confirmed that Go made unauthorized trips outside the NBP on several occasions.

A day before Leviste was arrested by operatives of NBI last May 18 for leaving the NBP without a permit, members of a NBP special investigation team allegedly foiled an attempt of Go to slip out of the compound.

Go was on board his black Toyota Vios when he was flagged down at the main gate of the NBP, according to Ciruela. He said Go told apprehending officers that he was going to the Makati Medical Center for a check-up but failed to show a pass from authorities.

Maguan’s mother said Go, instead of going to the hospital, would proceed to his house in Quezon City, and then return to the NBP late at night to avoid recognition by law enforcers.

She said sources has informed them that last year Go was seen in a Pasay City hotel with his two guards, meeting his wife Elsa and their children. Go was also spotted in Tagaytay City with a different set of jail guards early this year instead of going to his physician in Makati.

Rosario alleged that Go has been going out of prison using the main gate almost every day since February this year and the guards manning the outpost failed to check Go’s vehicle while he was leaving.