Palace ‘concerned’ over Bilibid drug trade

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is seriously concerned over the  continued illegal drug trade and other irregularities at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), an official said yesterday.

Asked if President Aquino still trusts Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director Franklin Jesus Bucayu, whose bureau supervises the national penitentiary, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigal Valte said the issues hounding BuCor had not been discussed with the President recently.

She confirmed that Aquino was dismayed over the officials’ failure to curb irregularities within the NBP, saying this is “a cause for concern.”

As for Bucayu’s expression of frustration over the developments in the NBP and whether he should quit, Valte said “we will leave that to his better judgment considering that he has made an assessment public.”

Yesterday over radio station dzRB, Valte said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told them Bucayu was just “being honest about the challenges that they are facing but it does not mean giving up... So the efforts to make the NBP drug-free continues.”

BuCor is under the supervision of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Valte added they would defer to De Lima on the measures to be taken as the justice secretary is aware of the issues needed to be resolved within BuCor and had assured the public that she would continue to take steps to address all problems related to drugs and crimes in the penitentiary.

She also said a proposal by Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II to ban the use of mobile phones and restrict or jam communication lines of those allegedly involved in irregularities within the NBP would also be up to De Lima to consider.

“Let’s see how the justice secretary receives it,” Valte said, describing Roxas’ proposal as “good” and “sound.”

She said De Lima assured Malacañang she was not tolerating any illegal activities in the NBP.

“So let us allow them to intensify their efforts” and consider the “proposals from other government agencies that will help the DOJ and the BuCor,” Valte said. “Hopefully, it will bear fruit.”

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. earlier said De Lima had launched an investigation into irregularities in the NBP, including the alleged entry of prostitutes for inmates.

De Lima said Bucayu and some prison guards at the NBP had been receiving death threats from groups behind the illegal drug trade. She said they were verifying the death threats and not taking them lightly.

De Lima said the threats to prison authorities might be due to the intensified anti-illegal drug operations in the national penitentiary.

She said that in two weeks, authorities recovered more than 100 grams of shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride.

On Oct. 21, NBP prison guard Gerard Donato was shot dead in Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City. He was part of a team tasked to conduct anti-drug operations in the penitentiary.

De Lima admitted that some drug pushers were still operating inside prison amid intensified efforts by the government.

She issued the statement following a television report that 78 percent of the inmates at the NBP’s maximum security compound tested positive for illegal drugs. Prison authorities have held 44 inmates for possession of illegal drugs.

Segregation eyed for drug lords

Bucayu said yesterday BuCor is planning to segregate drug lords from other inmates in the nine-hectare prison complex.

He said they have yet to determine how this can be done since the NBP’s maximum security compound was designed for only 5,000 prisoners but is currently holding 14,000 inmates.

Bucayu also said BuCor’s thrust is the “rehabilitation of convicts, not punitive.” He said there is a need for modern facilities for the rehabilitation and reformation of convicts, regardless of their crimes.

Officials are preparing to transfer the penitentiary to a modern facility in Nueva Ecija, which will be built through public-private partnership, he said. – With Perseus Echeminada