‘NBP deployment for SAF cops not permanent’

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) could not be assigned permanently to the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, a Philippine National Police (PNP) official said yesterday.

Deputy Director General Danilo Constantino, deputy chief for operations, said SAF police officers can be detailed at the NBP for two months at most for the “initial stage” of the campaign to stop convicted drug lords from running their business from the prison.

“Definitely SAF police officers will not be the permanent guards at the prison,” he said in an interview shortly after yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame.

Incoming justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said at least 1,000 SAF commandos will be assigned to secure the NBP. The SAF troopers, an elite unit of the PNP, will temporarily take over the posts of NBP jail guards, who will undergo months of re-training and re-education.

Aguirre said he had coordinated with Chief Superintendent Ronald de la Rosa, the incoming PNP chief, regarding the assignment of SAF troopers to the national penitentiary.

Director Moro Virgilio Lazo, SAF chief, said they will wait for instructions from their superiors.

“As to our strength, of course you understand that that is a secret,” he said.