SolGen Guevarra unaware of excavation in Bilibid

MANILA — Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said yesterday that he had no knowledge of the excavation site inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Guevarra served as the Justice Secretary under the Duterte administration.

“As former Justice Secretary, I had absolutely no knowledge about this alleged excavation inside the NBP compound,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

“The same being an operational matter, the BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) probably did not find it necessary to inform, much less seek approval from the DOJ [Department of Justice],” he added.

The BuCor, which is in charge of the custody and rehabilitation of national offenders or those sentenced to serve more than three years of imprisonment, is under the DOJ.

Earlier, when asked about the alleged tunnel dug under a swimming pool inside the penitentiary, BuCor officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang said the excavation was kept secret by previous BuCor officials because no public funds were appropriated for it.

He previously said they asked for the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as the excavation was not given a permit and is considered to be “illegal quarrying.”

According to Catapang, it is up to investigators to recommend the filing of charges against suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag.

In an earlier television interview, Bantag admitted he was the one who ordered the excavation inside the NBP, saying he plans to construct a deep swimming pool because he is a “master scuba diver.”

He denied claims that the excavation was done to build a tunnel.