Guevarra’s tall order to new BuCor chief Bato: Destroy Bilibid drug machinery

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra's order to newly-appointed Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ronald dela Rosa might be succinct but could prove to be a challenging one: Destroy the drug machinery inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Former police chief Dela Rosa, known for his moniker "Bato," reported for work at his new post on Monday and confronted convicted inmates at the NBP with media present, saying: "Ako ang siga, hindi kayo."

The BuCor is one of the attached agencies of the Department of Justice, along with the government's immigration and investigation bureaus, the Public Attorney's Office, and the Office of the Solicitor General.

"I will order him to destroy the illegal drug machinery inside the national penitentiary," Guevarra said of his tall order in a text message on Tuesday.

He said he and Dela Rosa woud be meeting on Friday.

The deployment of police commandos at the NBP has not completely put an end to the illegal drug trade from behind its bars. In June last year, Guevarra's predecessor Vitaliano Aguirre II admitted to a "resurgence" of drug trading inside the decades-old penitentiary.

Despite the Duterte administration's tough stance against illegal drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, at the start of the year, confirmed there were "new" drug suppliers detained at the NBP.

Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently jailed over alleged links to the NBP drug trade while she was Justice secretary, a claim she had repeatedly and vehemently denied.

During Dela Rosa's visit at the national penitentiary on Monday, he went to the building where high-risk inmates, including convicted drug lord Peter Co, are incarcerated.

He also appealed to the BuCor's officers to cooperate in his anti-corruption drive and asked them to continue to keep big-time drug lords in check.

“Takot kayong patayin nila?” Dela Rosa asked.

“No, sir!” they said.

“Oh sila nakakulong puwede mo na silang patayin di ba? Bakit pa hintayin na patayin kayo? Nandiyan lang sila sa loob,” he responded.

Dela Rosa was at the helm of the Philippine National Police (PNP) at the height of widely criticized killings linked to the Duterte administration's anti-illegal drugs campaign. — MDM, GMA News