Drug lords at the New Bilibid Prison  (NBP) could be behind the murder  of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) former legal counsel Fredric Anthony Santos, who is also a witness  in the  Good Conduct Time Allowance  (GCTA) anomaly, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa revealed  on Thursday.

Dela Rosa  came up with this statement based on his own experiences.

Dela Rosa served as BuCor director before he ran for senator.

“Most likely, those behind e killing , based on my experience, the drug lords jailed in Bilibid ordered the killing of our people in the BuCor,” said Dela Rosa who was also former police chief.

He noted that the drug lords have the money  and the people to carry out the killing.  He also said they have the capacity to threaten lawyers and even judges.

“They have the lawyers killed once they cannot get what they wanted. They have the money. They could buy your life,” said Dela Rosa as he maintained there was no monetary favors nor tilapia’ during his stint at the Bureau.

According to Dela Rosa, he pitied Santos . “Suspended na nga. Nasira na ‘yung kanyang career. Sira na ‘yung buhay niya. Pinatay pa,” said Dela Rosa,

Senator Panfilo Lacson stressed Santos’ killing is another big challenge to law enforcement agencies, including the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)  to get to the bottom of the case.

The manner in which Santos was killed, he said, shows how cheap life has become in the government’s war on drugs, be it stage-managed or perpetrated by drug syndicates.

“Either way, it is on the law enforcement agencies to bear the burden of finding the solution to this impunity,” said Lacson.

On Wednesday, Santos was shot dead in his car in front of a school in Barangay Poblacion in Muntinlupa City, a few meters away from the New Bilibid Prison.

Santos was suspended in 2019 due to his role in the  controversial release of heinous crimes convicts on account of GCTA.

Santos had earlier indicated  his intention to tell all he knew about the misapplication of the good conduct time credits./Stacy Ang