Iwahig prison officers accused Bantag of ‘torture’
Catapang to become ‘permanent’ BuCor director-- Remulla
‘WHEN it rains, in pours,’ as the saying goes and in the case of former Bureau of Corrections director general, Gerald Bantag, the hail of legal woes continues to pour in after five BuCor officials from the Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan accused him of ‘torture.’
Aside from the torture charge, complainants Corrections Officers 2 Lazaro Rafols, Jr., Jer Sahid Mojado, Eddie Jimenez, Jr., Richie Canja, and Roy Gacasa likewise accused Bantag and 11 otger individuals of oral defamation, grave threat, grave coercion, and obstruction of justice.
The five, accompanied by lawyers from the Bucor, personally appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to lodge the complaint against Bantag last January 20, 2023.
Bantag was earlier charged with a torture complaint by two inmates from the New Bilibid Prisons.
Also charged with Bantag were former BuCor deputy security officer Supt. Ricardo Zulueta, former BuCor spokesman Gabriel Chaclag, and nine others.
The complainants said they only surfaced now on the alleged torture because of fear when Bantag was still in power at the BuCor.
The embattled Bantag was placed on a 90-day preventive suspension by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last October 21, 2022, following the death of inmate Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the killing of radio blocktimer, Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa (see also Pinoy Exposé, October 24, 2022).
Meanwhile, the appointment of Bantag’s successor to the post as ‘OIC’ (officer-in-charge), former Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., would soon become “permanent,” according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla.
During a media engagement last Monday, January 23, 2023, at the National Bilibid Penitentiary (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, Remulla announced the ‘good news’ to the public.
“Earlier, DG Catapang was introduced. They called him the acting BuCor director. The next time I come here, he will no longer be the acting director. He will be the permanent director,” Remulla said.
The media interview follows the release of another batch of 341 prisoners from all BuCor facilities nationwide.
On assuming office as DOJ secretary last year, Remulla said one of his priorities is to release prisoners who continue to remain in jail even after fully serving their sentences. He said he expects to release some 5,000 prisoners by the first year of the Marcos administration this month of June.
The decision not only aims to decongest the country’s jail facilities but more importantly, to give justice to the inmates and their families.
Remulla added that hopefully, during the next Cabinet meeting, he would have received the formal appointment of Catapang, whose reputation was severely tainted during the 2015 ‘Mamasapano Incident’ that resulted to the massacre of 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the hands of separatist Muslims in Maguindanao. Catapang was the AFP chief at the time. The 7th year of the massacre was commemorated this January 25.
For his part, Catapang extended his gratitude to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Well, of course, nagpapasalamat tayo sa mahal na Pangulo sa pagtiwala niya sa atin. Alam naman po ng ating mga tao dito na talaga po trabaho lang po ang pinunta ko dito,” Catapang said.
