3 BuCor officials to be detained in Senate after being cited in contempt

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 12) — Three officials from the Bureau of Corrections and New Bilibid Prison Hospital will be detained by the Senate after they were cited in contempt on Thursday by Senate panels during its probe into the early release of heinous crime convicts.

Bilibid hospital official Dr. Ursicio Cenas, BuCor lawyer Fredric Anthony Santos, and BuCor documents processing chief Ramoncito "Chito" Roque were cited in contempt for "continuously lying to the committee," Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosa said. He was also the one who moved for the three officials to be cited in contempt.

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Richard Gordon slammed Cenas for denying he took bribes from witness Jose Galario, Jr. in exchange for his medical documents. Santos was also reprimanded for lying that many convicts applied for early release under the Good Conduct Time Allowance law from 2013 to 2015.

Meanwhile, Roque once again denied that he asked P50,000 from witness Yolanda Camilon for good conduct credits for her husband’s early release. He was also slammed by Gordon for the erroneous list of released inmates submitted by BuCor to the committee.

"Kung papaniwalaan niyo, bahala na po kayo, bahala na po ang Senado," he said.

Despite the three BuCor officials' contention, they were still cited in contempt by the Senate.

"Hindi personal 'yan. What the Senate is after is respect the procedings and the integrity of the Senate. If you don't do that, we have our recourses of action," Gordon said. 

Gordon said Cenas, Santos, and Roque will be detained in Senate premises until they satisfy the requirements or demands set by the Blue Ribbon Committee.

After five hearings, the committee report on the good conduct law implementation fiasco will be released on September 16.