Philippine official linked to journalist Percival Mabasa’s murder dug hole in prison for buried Japan treasure
- Prison chief Gerald Bantag has faced a series of allegations since being suspended last month, including the breeding of horses and snakes at the Muntinlupa penitentiary
- Calling the excavation ‘ridiculous’, the justice secretary said the digging was a waste of government time and money
Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag has faced a series of unusual allegations since being suspended last month, including the breeding of horses and snakes at the overcrowded prison complex at the southern fringe of metropolitan Manila and neglect resulting in the bodies of 176 prisoners piling up at a funeral home.
Following Bantag’s suspension, authorities discovered a huge pit dug by backhoes in the prison complex in Muntinlupa city with what appeared to be a shallow tunnel at the bottom.
Bantag told reporters he ordered the hole dug as part of a plan to build an extra-deep swimming pool to train prison personnel in scuba diving. The workers could then be used as rescuers in times of flooding and storms, he said.
But Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Bantag told him a few months ago that the excavation was part of a search for a fabled treasure supposedly buried by Japanese occupation forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita during World War II.
“I told him to stop it. It’s ridiculous,” Remulla told reporters, adding that the digging was a waste of government time and money. “He’s not there to seek treasure, you’re there to run the corrections department.”