High-profile inmate dies at New Bilibid Prisons- report

July 19, 2020

Jaybee Sebastian, a high-profile inmate at the New Bilibid Prisons, died from acute myocardial infarction on Saturday and was cremated in Cavite, radio station dzBB reported Sunday,

Sebastian, who was convicted for kidnapping and carjacking in 2009, alleged that then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had conspired with him and other inmates to raise funds through the drug trade for her 2016 senatorial bid.

Sebastian and two other inmates were injured during a riot in New Bililid Prisons on September 2016.

There was no official confirmation about Sebastian's death. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra summoned Bureau of Corrections head Gerald Bantag over reports of deaths, COVID-19 related or otherwise, involving high-profile inmates.

Of the 18 recorded deaths, all persons deprived of liberty,  fifteen are from the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) and three from the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW).

News reports said Sebastian was taken to Site Harry, a COVID-19 facility inside the New Bilibid Prison, after showing symptoms.

“We have summoned Director  General Bantag to the DOJ tomorrow.  We’ll find out what is really happening at the NBP,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.

BuCor spokesman Col. Gabriel Chaclag admitted that there were persons deprived of liberty  who passed away due to COVID-19.

“However, as much as we want to inform the public with respect to the names of PDL who died due to COVID-19, the Data Privacy Act prohibits us from doing so,” Chaclag said.

“Rest assured that the Bureau of Corrections is doing its best to address this pandemic. In fact, we have a high rate of recovery and we are glad to report to the public  that all our interventions appear to be doing well and effective,” the BuCor official added.

Confirmed cases all throughout the BuCor gathered since the start of its monitoring in March showed 343 confirmed cases, 18 deaths, and 323 recoveries.  DMS