‘1 prisoner bolts jail every 3 days’

A prisoner is said to escape from jail every three days.

Quoting figures from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Sen. Francis Pangilinan said 128 inmates bolted various prisons run by the Bureau of Corrections last year.

"That’s an average of one jailbreaker every three days," he said. "What is the bureau doing to stop the increasing number of jailbreaks?"

During Wednesday’s public hearing on the DOJ budget, Pangilinan said the number of jailbreaks in 2001 was 21 percent higher than those reported in 2000.

"This figure does not include the illegal release from detention of certain inmates by corrupt jail guards," he said.

Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate justice and human rights committee, said records show only five out of 70 corrupt jail guards have been dismissed from the service.

"Others were merely suspended or transferred to another post, while the rest were simply fined or reprimanded," he said. "Such punishments do not contribute to stopping the culture of incompetence among jail wardens."

Pangilinan said Bureau of Corrections Director Ricardo Macala must impose harsher penalties on incompetent wardens to stop the growing number of jailbreaks.

"Unless harsher administrative as well as criminal sanctions are imposed, we can expect the jailbreaks to continue," he said. "Macala himself should be made to account."

The bureau runs seven prisons nationwide: the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City, Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, Iwahig prison and penal farm in Palawan, Davao prison and penal farm, San Ramon prison and penal farm in Zamboanga City, Sablayan prison and penal farm in Occidental Mindoro and Leyte regional prison.

The National Penitentiary has the highest number of reported jailbreaks. — Sammy Santos