AN inmate of the Sablayan Penal Colony in Occidental Mindoro who was linked to a misencounter between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Quezon City police has been placed in isolation, the Department of Justice said yesterday.
Inmate Melvin Magallon was identified by the NBI during a Senate inquiry last Monday as having “dictated the tempo” of a drug transaction in Quezon City last February, which led to a shootout between the operatives of the two agencies.
Two policemen, a PDEA agent, and informant were killed in the shootout on Commonwealth avenue.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) is investigating how Magallon got a cellular phone that he used in the transaction, said Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco who has been assigned to monitor BuCor activities
“Nakadiskarte ng cellphone yung PDL (person deprived of liberty) at yun ginagamit sa pag transact so ang sitwasyon right now, pina-isolate siya sa isang cell, mag-isa lang sya dun habang continuous ang coordination ng BuCor sa National Bureau of Investigation (The PDL was able to get his hand on a cellular phone and he uses it for transactions. The situation right now is that he has been placed in isolation, he is alone in a cell while the BuCor is in continuous coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation),” Marco said.
Marco also said the BuCor will further enhance security measures at the penal colony, including an intensified “Oplan Galugad’ to find banned items like cellular phones.
During a hearing of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee on Monday, Cesar Bacani, NBI National Capital Region director, said the supposed PDEA asset provided misleading information on a supposed drug-bust operation last February 24.
