(Eagle News)– New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmate Jaime Patcho on Wednesday (September 21) claimed that convicted drug lord Jaybee Sebastian forced him to help raise money for the Senate run of then Justice secretary now Senator Leila De Lima.
Patcho said it was in January 2015 when Sebastian called him to his ‘kubol’ to ask him to sell drugs to easily pool money for De Lima.
“Kinausap niya ako… Direkta niyang sinabi na bigyan siya ng tulong bilang paghahanda sa pagtakbo sa pagka-senador sa darating na eleksyon ni DOJ Sec. Leila De Lima at huwag akong mangamba dahil sa kanya ang administrasyon,” Patcho recounted.
Patcho said he was able to sell five kilos for P4.350 million, and was ordered by Sebastian to deposit the money to a Banco De Oro account.
Patcho, however, noted he could no longer remember the account number and the name of the account holder.
“Nabasa ko pero di ko naman naisip na mananatili sa cellphone ko. Kasi bawal. Pag nahuli ang cellphone, bawal, malalaman,” he added.
He reported Sebastian threatened him that he will be removed from the maximum security compound– described as “Little Las Vegas”– if he will not cooperate.
“Sinabi sa akin ni Jaybee Sebastian na matibay ang bangka niya at kung di sasakay ay lulubog [ako],” recalled Patcho, which he understood as: “Maaring alisin sa maximum compound at dalhin sa medium security o kolonya.”
“Nung panahon na yun parang ang boses ni Jaybee Sebastian sa maximum compound, parang batas dahil nakikita namin napakalakas niya,” added Patcho.
Patcho even mentioned he saw De Lima visit Sebastian in his ‘kubol’ twice.
“Si Secretary De Lima nakikita ko, pag papasok ng maximum compound, duon nagpupunta kay Jaybee. Dalawang beses nakita ko, naglalakad siya papunta sa bahay na bato ni Jaybee Sebastian,” Patcho stressed.
Another NBP inmate, Noel Ramirez, had testified that De Lima visited Sebastian several times since January 2013.
