According to NBP officials, the brown wallet was found by an inmate who was fetching water at a grassy part of the compound at around 5:30 p.m. last Friday.
Although the P7,500 cash was missing, important documents including Escudero’s ID, driver’s license, permit to carry firearm, and P50,000 check of the Land Bank of the Philippines were intact.
NBP officials added that the congressman appreciated their efforts to recover his wallet even without the cash.
"This is an isolated case and we shouldn’t make a big deal out of it," they noted.
An inmate, who was tagged by three others as the culprit, still refused to admit that he was the pickpocket. He has been freed from the custody of the Board of Discipline.
Escudero lost his wallet while conducting a dialogue with inmates last Dec. 2 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish with 10 fellow congressmen.
He was under heavy security of prison guards and four police aides.
As punishment to inmates, Bureau of Corrections Director Vicente Vinarao immediately suspended the visits of inmates’ relatives at NBP until both wallet and the culprit surface. But upon request of the congressman, Vinarao eventually lifted the suspension.
NBP officials even put drop boxes inside the maximum security compound, where the culprit could surrender the wallet of Escudero with "no questions asked."
The officials admitted that it may be difficult for the culprit to surface and admit what he did because of the implications of his act.
Under prison rules, the pickpocket would be deprived of visits and transferred to a disciplinary cell. His good conduct time allowance — an important requirement for parole application, might also be delayed, not to mention how his gangmates would treat him.