IED blast rocks Bilibid
MANILA, Philippines — An explosion rocked the New Bilibid Prison while corrections personnel were conducting clearing operations at the NBP compound in Muntinlupa City yesterday.
Initial reports said an improvised explosive device went off while NBP personnel were demolishing some of the illegally constructed “kubols” or huts previously occupied by members of Islamic extremist groups in Quadrant IV.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said no one was injured in the incident.
Eleazar said bomb squad personnel of the NCRPO recovered two grenades and two blasting caps at the site.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but investigators said it could be a tactic to put off the demolition of kubols and other illegal structures inside the NBP compound.
Authorities ordered the demolition of the illegal structures inside the NBP to prevent inmates from using them in their illegal activities.
In the demolition operations, officials retrieved illegal drugs, weapons, sex toys, home appliances, machinery and bundles of cash.
“There are so many you cannot even count them,” Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gerald Bantag remarked.
Bantag stressed the kubols breed corruption among BuCor personnel by allowing privileged prisoners to use them for their illicit activities.
He said corrupt BuCor personnel allow materials and supplies to be brought in for the construction of the kubols.
Eleazar stressed the incident would not stop the ongoing demolition operations at the NBP.
“Demolition is ongoing and we started from one quadrant. The fourth quadrant is at the left side. Around 10 a.m. an explosion happened in Quadrant IV so we were not able to demolish it,” he said.
Eleazar said they are still in the process of looking for witnesses to possibly identify those behind the explosion.
When pressed on how some inmates managed to sneak in explosives, Eleazar said anything is possible since inmates bring in contraband, including home appliances, furniture, freezers and other items by paying off corrupt BuCor officials.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered Bantag to conduct an investigation into the blast.
Guevarra directed Bantag to submit a written report on the incident and coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) in investigating the incident.
“It’s an indication of how serious the security problem inside the NBP is,” he said.
The explosion broke out in one of the kubols previously occupied by convicted hardcore terrorists belonging to the Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Maute group and Jemaah Islamiyah.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Malacañang would wait for Bantag to make the official report on the NBP explosion.
Panelo stressed they do not want to speculate over reports that an improvised explosive device triggered the explosion.
“Let’s just wait for the official report coming from the BuCor chief,” he said.
Last month, President Duterte designated Bantag as the new BuCor chief, replacing Nicanor Faeldon who was sacked following the controversy over the premature release of thousands of inmates convicted of heinous crimes.
Bantag served as warden of Parañaque City jail where in 2016, a grenade explosion killed 10 inmates, most of them drug offenders. He has yet to be charged in court.
Duterte said he made the right choice in Bantag, saying, “I like him because I heard he throws grenades.”
Harsh conditions
With the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in the NBP, an inmate said this would make their harsh life even harder.
Some of the inmates occupying the kubols were forced to sleep outside.
They cannot be accommodated in other detention cells because these are already overcrowded.
The same inmate claimed they have no place to sleep, no food to eat and no water to drink.Adding to their misery is the lack of electricity, which makes the heat unbearable. The inmate said Bantag should have thought of the welfare of the prisoners who are affected by the demolition.“He did not plan it well. If they demolished the (kubols) then they should have placed them in a better place. They are already sleeping outside with cartons as beds,” he said.
“We cannot accommodate [all of them] in our quadrants because we are already having a hard time by ourselves,” another inmate said. The inmate said a shelter can accommodate 50 people at once, but since the other prisoners flocked to them for a roof above their heads, 240 people are staying in one shelter. Medicine and healthcare are also lacking, the inmate said, as the NBP hospital supposedly no longer has any on-duty medical personnel.
The situation has badly affected the elderly inmates. “They are thinking that they may die anytime soon,” he said.
BuCor spokesman Maj. Alberto Tapiru admitted the congestion problems inside the maximum security compound. ?He said some of the inmates are sleeping inside shanties yet to be demolished.
Tapiru justified the demolition of the kubols.
“What happened is, the shelters we are destroying are the result of them breaking the law because they are not authorized to erect shanties. This, then, became a den for illegal activities,” Tapiru said.“What rights are they asking for? To continue selling drugs inside their dens?” he added.
Tapiru said they have already demolished 80 percent of illegal structures in quadrant one. They have started to demolish structures in quadrant two.
BuCor spokesperson Wena Fe Dalagan said the inmates complaining are those who are used to living comfortably inside the shanties. She said BuCor is studying placing the inmates in the medium and minimum security compounds to address congestion at the maximum security area. The inmate also claimed one prisoner was wounded after being shot by the security of the penitentiary when he was trying to go back to quadrant one. Tapiru confirmed that a shot was fired but it was a mere warning shot. This is because the inmate supposedly threw a rock at a female nurse, he said. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Christina Mendez
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