There are 50 plus combined personnel of the Bureau of Corrections and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology who are under investigation due to the presence of 12,000 assorted contrabands inside the National Bilibid Prison.
Short of saying there will be people on the chopping block, BuCor acting Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said in yesterday's press conference at the NBP that they are now in the process of investigating the said personnel to get to the bottom of everything.
One such huge find is the 7,512 cans of beer inside the NBP compound which is part of the items seized and voluntarily surrendered after talks with different groupings both at the maximum and minimum security compound.
The beer (Red Horse) which was being sold for P1,000 per can will amount to P7 million when sold to the inmates at the maximum compound.
"They are selling the said beer in cans at P1,000 each so that is a lot of money. By estimates, it is P7 million but outside they are being sold at only P50 to 60 each," Catapang said.
When asked who is responsible for the entry of the said truckload of beer inside the NBP, Catapang said they are still investigating.
"We want to know who allowed the entry of the truckload of beers inside, the time, kind of truck and who received the contraband," he said.
He said it is the first time that such a big amount of beer had been sneaked into the compound.
When told that it is not the first time, Catapang said he is not aware of it.
The Daily Tribune told Catapang that there was once a concert held and hosted by a popular inmate at the maximum compound where beer and alcohol were sold expensively.
Catapang said he is not aware of it since he is just a 10-day officer-in-charge at BuCor, but vowed that he would do everything to identify who is involved in the said contrabands.
"We will give them due process but definitely they will be punished accordingly even if they are the warden or other officials in the NBP," said Catapang.
The Bucor officer-in-charge expressed confidence that they will be able to identify those responsible because there are people who have already revealed such anomalies.
"Meron ng kumanta and they already executed their sworn statements, so it is just a matter of time. By that time we will tell you who they are. We will implement a one-strike policy here," he said.
Aside from the beer in cans, the Bucor has also recovered all sorts of improvised weapons, guns and illegal drugs.