Plot to expel SAF men from NBP bared
By Aaron Recuenco
Director General Ronald dela Rosa, former national police chief and now the head of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), disclosed yesterday that there are repeated attempts by convicted drug lords and erring jail personnel to expel police commandos at the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP).
In a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Dela Rosa said the attempts to discredit commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) guarding the NBP was deliberately being done long before he assumed the top BuCor post.
“There is a connivance between the convicted drug lords and NBP personnel earning from drug trade inside to discredit our SAF because their presence has been affecting their trade,” said Dela Rosa after the anniversary of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group.
“They want to expel the SAF for them to freely do their illegal business,” he added.
Since the SAF took over guarding the maximum security detention facility at the NBP in 2016, Dela Rosa said the drug transaction was reduced by 50 percent.
This is the reason, he said, why SAF commandos was dragged into a controversy last year over allegations that they were also corrupted by the drug lords which resulted in the resurgence of illegal drugs trade.
At one point, some SAF commandos were also accused of stealing television sets and other items inside the NBP.
Right now, Dela Rosa said there are still attempts to remove the SAF at the NBP by spreading negative rumors about the SAF commandos.
“I looked into these rumors and found out that all the rumors are not true. They never stopped because they want to go back to their old days again,” said dela Rosa.
The official said that based on their assessment, the drug transaction inside the NBP was further reduced by 30 percent when he assumed the top BuCor post.
“We cannot totally say that there are no more transactions there. We continue to confiscate items inside,” said Dela Rosa.
But since the SAF arrived and I assumed the position, I believe there is a remaining 20 percent illegal drugs transaction inside,” he added.