Philippine prison officials jailed for giving evasive answers as senators investigate early-release scandal

A Senate hearing to investigate the release of many powerful, wealthy prisoners has been ongoing

Senators became enraged after the three officials could not give satisfactory answers to questions about corruption in New Bilibid Prison

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Ursicio Cenas is escorted to detention after he and two other Corrections officials were cited for contempt in a Senate probe. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 17 Sep 2019Updated: 2:54pm, 18 Sep 2019

Three Philippine prison officials have found themselves locked up for almost a week after senators, dissatisfied by the answers they had given in a hearing earlier that day, cited them for contempt amid an investigation into a rapidly widening prison scandal.

The officers from the Bureau of Corrections were summoned on September 12 to testify in a probe into the early release of powerful, wealthy prisoners convicted of heinous crimes.

Fredric Santos, the bureau’s legal division chief, admitted during the Senate hearing that corruption was rampant within the prison, saying that “everything is for sale”. He was unable to explain to senators why he could not stop the acts from occurring.

Ramoncito Roque, a staff sergeant, said he had no idea how an error-filled list of prisoners, released by his office to the Senate, came about.

Bureau of Corrections official Ramoncito Roque. Photo: AP

The list – which detailed the names of convicts who qualified for early release under a new good-conduct law – contained duplicate names and wrong crimes, and also included prisoners who might not have qualified to be released early. In one instance, a female prisoner accused of plunder had her crime listed as rape.