BuCor Director Vicente Vinarao said they have installed phone lines in all three compounds at NBP for the use of inmates, especially those whose relatives are in far-flung provinces and who have not been receiving visits for a long time.
The project was made possible with the help of Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications (PLDT), said Vinarao.
At the call center, each inmate is given a 10-minute free call to their relatives in the provinces every month.
"We wanted to give inmates a chance to communicate with their families. Here at BuCor, families of inmates play an important role in our rehabilitation program," said Vinarao in an interview with The STAR.
The BuCor chief said they have already put up 10 phone lines at the maximum security compound, five at the medium security compound, and three in the minimum security compound.
Vinarao also plans to extend the project to penal colonies in the provinces, where some convicts from Metro Manila were sent as part of the decongestion program.
"Inmates and their families aren’t the ones who would benefit from this project. We in the administration believe that by providing free phone calls to them, jailbreak incidents would be lessened," he said.
According to him, most of recaptured inmates in earlier jailbreak cases cited their longing for family as reason for escaping.
Vinarao is also eyeing the project to prevent further entry of contrabands, specifically cell phones inside compounds of the national penitentiary, since inmates would no longer need them to contact their families.
As part of strengthening inmates’ bond with their families, the BuCor director has also earlier granted them two overnight conjugal visits every month.