An officer of the Special Action Force (SAF), the Philippines’ most elite police unit, is set to face charges for stealing PHP200,000 (USD 4,000) and a television set from a chapel at the New Bilibid Prison, Bureau of Corrections chief Benjamin delos Santos revealed Thursday.
Speaking to radio DZMM, a radio affiliate of ABS-CBN, Delos Santos said the SAF “sergeant” enlisted the help of 2 detainees to mount a fake drug raid and commit the recent heist.
“He used inmates to help him carry out the theft. He had them put on a SAF uniform and pretended like he was going to conduct a shabu (meth) raid. What they opened was a vault with money and other loot,” Delos Santos said.
The SAF trooper, he said, eventually confessed the crime to the NBP chaplain.
“Eventually, the sargeant confessed to the chaplain and he admitted that he committed the crime with the two prisoners,” Delos Santos said.
“He said, ‘I’m sorry guys. I can’t return the money I stole because I gambled it. The TV, I also can’t return because I don’t know where it went.”
The suspects may be charged today before the Muntinlupa Prosecutor’s Office, the BuCor chief said.
SAF commandos took over NBP’s security in July 2016 following allegations that prison guards and several top officials were in cahoots with detained drug lords.
Earlier this week however, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre claimed that SAF personnel have developed familiarity with the inmates, resulting in a “resurgence” of the NBP drug trade.
But even before Aguirre’s exposé, Bucor has been “quietly investigating” intelligence reports that some SAF troopers and prison guards were involved in various offenses, Delos Santos said.
The probe, he added, covered 4 to 6 drug-related cases, as well as the SAF officer who confessed to stealing from the chapel.
“In the coming days, everything will be included in the reports, and we’ll fire who we have to fire,” said Delos Santos.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa meanwhile said that he cannot “totally deny” that SAF troopers have somehow familiarized themselves with the detainees.
Dela Rosa however emphasized that SAF does not have “total control” of the prison as they man only Building 14 and the maximum security compound.
Some convicted drug lords, he said, have been moved to the medium and minimum security compounds.
Aguirre said Wednesday that he has looked into the matter but did not give further details.
Republished from ABS-CBN News
