17 high-risk inmates transferred from NBI head office to NBP compound
Video by Tetch Torres-Tupas/INQUIRER.net
Seventeen high-risk inmates have been transferred to the newly renovated Building 14 inside the Maximum Security Compound of the National Penitentiary.
The inmates, onboard the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) coaster left the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) compound in Manila at 4:20 a.m. and arrived at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City at 5 a.m.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said only 17 of the 19 inmates were transferred because German Luna Agojo, a convicted drug lord is at the Philippine General Hospital after suffering a mild stroke early this month.
Another drug lord, George Sy, passed away last July 1 after battling colon cancer.
De Lima said the inmates were not informed that they will be transferred to NBP.
“They do not want to be moved to Building 14. What they want is to return to the Maximum Security Compound,” de Lima sad.
The high-risk inmates were transferred to the NBI following a raid conducted last Dec. 15 where authorities discovered that inmates have managed to sneak inside posh appliances, firearms, illegal drugs, sex toys, gadgets. Inmates even managed to put up their own CCTVs, one has a pet Boxer and a music room.
Dr. Cynthia de Lara, officer-in-charge of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Hospital said all the 17 inmates were examined to check their vital signs.
Bureau of Correction (BuCor) Director Rainier Cruz III said one inmate was surprised when he saw that every cell has a CCTV camera.
“Yung iba kumuha ng timba, nilinis yung selda nila,” Cruz said.
There are 29 cells in the building measuring eight square meters each. A total of 58 inmates will occupy the building. The building is equipped with CCTV cameras, signal jammers and own sets of guards.
Cruz said the 17 inmates have occupied the innermost cells with two inmates sharing the same cell.
Before the end of August, Cruz said all the cells will be occupied.
De Lima said aside from the NBI, she and Cruz are consulting the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to identify the inmates who still has the capacity to run their “businesses” while inside prison.
“We are going to deliberate on [who will occupy Building 14]. We are getting inputs from relevant agencies like PDEA, ISAFP, PNP and NBI. Then, we will finalize the list,” De Lima said.
She added their target is to make the NBP drug-free.
The building is within the Maximum Security Compound but its gate is not accessible via the heavily guarded main entrance of the national penitentiary. Its gate is along the main road of the New Bilibid Prison leading to the Reception and Diagnostic Center and near the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Museum, formerly the lethal injection chamber.
The building used to be a death chamber for convicts scheduled for execution through the electric chair. Cruz said a total of 84 inmates were executed in the building. The last execution took place on Oct. 21, 1976.
Then, during the 80s, it was turned into a disciplinary area for high-risk inmates. TVJ
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