Magalong to appear at GCTA hearing

We were the ones who developed the information, who made the plan together with PDEA but were excluded on the actual raid,” Magalong said, adding that the information they received showed that Bureau of Corrections officials were involved in anomalies

The former head of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Saturday confirmed that he is set to appear in the Senate hearing on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law controversy next week.

In a radio interview, former CIDG chief and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong revealed that he received a call from Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chair Sen. Richard Gordon inviting him to the next hearing to share what he knows about illegal activities at the New Bilibid Prison in his capacity as CIDG’s former head.

Magalong noted that at the time of former Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima, he reported how Chinese drug lords held at the state penitentiary still wielded control over the drug trade.

“We presented to Secretary De Lima a special operations intelligence plan. I revealed to her that in spite of the fact that these high-profile Chinese drug personalities are detained, they continue to control and manage the drug trade in the Philippines,” Magalong said.

But he lamented that they were excluded from the raid carried out in 2014.

“We were the ones who developed the information, who made the plan together with PDEA but were excluded on the actual raid,” Magalong said, adding that the information they received showed that Bureau of Corrections officials were involved in anomalies.

“Everything appeared in the information and if we were included in the raid, we would have gotten strong evidence. Unfortunately, we were left behind,” Magalong said.

To recall, the now detained lady senator was accused by several high-profile prisoners that she was involved in the drug trade at the state penitentiary while she led raids at Bilibid where contraband was found and luxury villas of inmates were dismantled.

She has been detained since February 2017 but has asserted the allegations against her are false and part of political persecution, while Magalong retired in 2016, and was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as board member of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. in 2018.

Magalong has yet to find out the exact day he will appear before the Senate adding he is still waiting for the notice coming from Gordon’s office.

The Senate is investigating the implementation of the GCTA law following the early release of some 2,000 heinous crime convicts since 2013, when it was expanded to include detention in time served.