The Anti-crime advocates on Tuesday filed drug trafficking complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Senator Leila De Lima and seven other personalities allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.
Apart from De Lima, also charged by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption with sale of illegal drugs and conspiracy to commit drug trade under Republic Act 9165 were:
- former Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III;
- former Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayu;
- De Lima's former security aides Ronnie Dayan, Joenel Sanchez and Jose Adrian Dera alias Jad De Vera;
- Bucayu's staff and alleged bagman Col. Wilfredo Ely; and
- high profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian
Relying on the testimonies of former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos and inmate Herbert Colanggo, the VACC said the respondents "acted in concerted effort, whose actions exhibited the display of uniform agreement to engage in illegal drug trade."
"Each one of them had played significant roles in order to ensure the perpetuation of the illegal drug trade inside the Bilibid," stated the complaint, which was filed on behalf of VACC by its founding chairman Dante Jimenez.
"Her influence and power likewise offered respondents in this case shield and protection to ensure the invinsibility in the conduct of their illegal trade; in this same manner that she was also able to eliminate the competitors of Jaybee inside the prison by having them transferred to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) (in December 2014," the complaint stated.
Baraan, on the other hand, according to Colanggo, allegedly earned from facilitating transfer of inmates from one compound to another in return for P500,000, or from one penal colony to another for a higher rate of P3 million.
Ragos had said he delivered P5 million from drug payoffs in two instances to De Lima's house in Parañaque City in late 2012 while Colanggo said the former justice secretary got P3 million monthly from him in exchange for allowing the lavish lifestyle of some high profile inmates.
The complaints, which were prepared by Colanggo's counsel, Ferdinand Topacio, will undergo preliminary investigation by DOJ prosecutors who will determine if there is probable cause to press charges in court.