By Hannah Torregoza
Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, on Thursday, confronted the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials on why it provided preferential treatment to convicted “drug queen” Yu Yuk Lai.
Senator Richard Gordon (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Gordon, at the sixth hearing of the Senate’s investigation into the anomalies in the BuCor and the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), asked why Yu was sent to private hospitals several times where she stayed for as long as 10 months.
Upon Gordon’s questioning, Mary Ann Marasigan, acting superintendent of the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW), one of the prison facilities managed by the BuCor, said that Yu was admitted at the Metropolitan Medical Center (MMC) in Sta. Cruz, Manila in November 2014 due to facial pain.
Then Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima approved Yu’s confinement at the MMC, according to Marasigan.
Marasigan said doctors initially diagnosed Yu with a transient ischemic attack. She said Yu also underwent therapy for anxiety and depressive syndrome.
When Gordon asked if it is reasonable to allow Yu to stay in the hospital for 10 months, Marasigan replied that the then-CIW superintendent attempted to bring back Yu to her detention facility and even communicated this to their doctors but failed.
She said Yu was once against admitted to Metropolitan Medical Center from May 7 to 30, 2016, this time due to heat exhaustion and hypothyroidism.
The last time Yu was hospitalized; Marasigan said the convict was sent to the Philippine Heart Center from March 15 to May 2, 2017, after complaining of chest pain and hypertension. She was then diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
According to Marasigan, “there were times the primary physician of Yu Yuk Lai failed to give discharge orders” that is why she stayed long at the hospital.
A Filipino-Chinese, Yu was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for delivering three kilos of shabu in exchange for P2-million worth of casino chips to a police undercover agent in 1998.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson earlier said they got hold of information that Yu was overstaying at the Makati Medical Center and has been seen shopping at Greenbelt mall in Makati.
In contrast to Yu’s condition, Gordon noted the discrepancy in how the BuCor treated a poor and old inmate who fell sick but was not given proper medical attention by the BuCor officials and NBP doctors.
Bilibid hospital medical officer Ursicio Cenas admitted he was familiar with the case but reasoned out that it was not easy to bring sick convicts to hospitals outside the prison facility “because there are procedures to follow.”
“Kung merong kaming pasyenteng lalabas, kailangang may relative na magbabantay, requirement ‘yun. Kapag walang relative hindi nailalabas kasi ‘yung gwardiya, e gwardiya lang, (If there is a patient that is supposed to go out, there must be a relative who will stay. That’s a requirement. If there is no relative, we cannot allow it especially if only guards will be on hand to take care of the convict)” he said.
Cenas also argued they would need to also request a pass, escort, and transportation. They are also mandated to fingerprint the convict who will leave the facility.
“‘Yung ibang proseso kasi hindi namin hawak. Kung walang escort hindi ilalabas, kapag walang transportation hindi mailalabas, kapag walang gasolina walang ilalabas, (The other processes, we don’t handle it. If there is no escort, he can’t leave. If there’s no transportation, he can’t leave. If there is no gasoline, we can’t let him out),” he added.
At this, Gordon ventured that the BuCor personnel are merely using the arduous procedure as an excuse to prevent the transfer of sick convicts to hospitals.
“Ang bureaucracy ginagamit n’yo para wag magpalabas pero kung may padulas, kung malakas (ang convict), mabilis, (You are hiding behind bureaucracy but the fact remains that if they have money to pay, or if these convicts are influential, you act fast),” Gordon pointed out.
But prior to this, Cenas, responding to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go’s question, admitted that there are inmates who are paying doctors just so they can be admitted to the NBP hospital even though they have no sickness.
Cenas, initially tried to invoke his right against self-incrimination, but he later on confirmed the modus: “Meron nagbabayad.”
However, Cenas said that when then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima got hold of information there were inmates being admitted in private hospitals, the former DOJ secretary issued an order banning the practice and only allowed that inmates be sent to public hospitals for treatment.
