Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 10) – Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) detainee and drug suspect Jad Dera may have influenced investigations on people under the agency’s custody, and he has since been transferred to Muntinlupa City Jail, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday.
Dera was apprehended late June inside a van outside the NBI detention center accompanied by five security officers and one employee. He was in and out of the facility and even received special privileges after allegedly bribing agency personnel, the agency said.
READ: DOJ vows heads will roll after detainee found outside NBI detention facility
“Yung nangyari kay Dera, mabuti nga na nangyari yan kasi may natuklasan kami na mga gawain ni Dera sa loob na kung saan naimpluwensiyahan niya ang mga ibang imbestigasyon ng mga taong nakakulong doon sa loob ng NBI detention center kasi siya ang nagsisilbing, nagmimistulang mayor ng mga nakakulong doon,” Justice Secretary Boying Remulla said.
[Translation: What happened to Dera is good because it led to the discovery that he influenced investigations over other detainees within the NBI detention center because he appears to be the mayor of those being kept there.]
The term “mayor” refers to a high-ranking inmate who holds sway over the facility, he explained.
“Dera is already in Muntinlupa with a commitment order. Why he stayed in the NBI is beyond me,” Remulla added.
READ: Court orders transfer of Jad Dera from NBI facility to Muntinlupa City Jail
Remulla did not reveal the specifics of which investigations Dera had influenced but said that the DOJ investigated the extent within the NBI detention center.
“Inaalam pa namin kasi nga dapat yung puno’t dulo nito alam namin kung siya ba talaga ang naging mitsa or siya ba ay nakatulong lang o ano ba ang kanyang naging papel,” Remulla said.
“Pero may ibang nagsasabi na marahil isa siya sa mga naka-impluwensya sa mga nangyayari sa loob,” he added.
[Translation: We’re trying to find out because by the end of this, we need to know if he was the catalyst or if he just helped or whatever his role may have been. But, there are those who said that he may have had influence on the things happening inside.]
