MANILA – Convicted drug lord Jaybee Sebastian died due to complications from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Saturday at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Hospital in Muntinlupa City.
Sebastian, who once testified against detained senator Leila de Lima in her illegal drug trade case, succumbed to acute myocardial infarction as a complication from COVID-19, as stated in his death certificate.
The remains of the 40-year-old Sebastian was not autopsied and immediately cremated on Saturday evening at the Panteo de Dasmarinas public cemetery in Dasmarinas, Cavite.
To recall, Sebastian tagged Sen. Leila De Lima as a protector of illegal drug operations inside the national penitentiary during the House of Representatives House hearing on the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs inside NBP in October 2016.
A month later, Sebastian filed graft and criminal charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against De Lima and former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ricardo Rainier Cruz and former NBP head Richard Schwarzkopf Jr.
Prior to Sebastian’s death, there were also some eight NBP inmates who passed away also due to COVID-19 during the latter part of May and early part of June, based on the information obtained by Panay News.
Among those who died during the period were Pasig City “shabu tiangge” vendorAmin Imam Boratong, Francis Go, Jimmy Yang, Benjamin Marcelo, Zhang Zhu Li, Jimmy Kinsing Hung, Eugene Chua and Ryan Ong.
In light of the deaths of NBP inmates due to COVID-19 that were not being reported, DOJ secretary Menardo Guevarra has summoned BuCor chief Gerald Bantag to his office today.
Based on the latest data from the DOJ, NBP accounts for the most number of confirmed cases among Bureau of Corrections-managed jail facilities with 141 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) infected and 38 BuCor staff.
Overall, the number of COVID-19 cases in BuCor-managed jail facilities has reached 301. Close to half of the reported cases – or 145have recovered while 16 PDL deaths were reported./PN
