70 NBP inmates moved to Leyte prison

MANILA, Philippines — At least 70 inmates from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa arrived at the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte yesterday.

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gregorio Catapang Jr. said 50 inmates from the maximum security compound and 20 from the Reception and Diagnostic Center of the NBP were sent to Leyte.

“The continuing transfer of PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) to various operating prisons and penal farms is part of BuCor’s decongestion effort and to provide additional workforce for agricultural projects,” he said in a statement.

Catapang added that he will push for the revival of the construction of corrections facilities in Laur, Nueva Ecija, which had been approved by the regional development council of Central Luzon in 2015.

“We need to revisit this project to partially solve overcrowding at NBP while awaiting funds for the implementation of (Republic Act) 10575, otherwise known as the BuCor Modernization Act,” he said.

According to Catapang, the project was supposed to be implemented under a public-private partnership “involving the construction of correction facilities on a 500-hectare lot in Laur, Nueva Ecija for the NBP and the Correctional Institution for Women.”