Aquino mulls multi-agency meeting on jail problems

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino is mulling on convening a multi-agency meeting to tackle various problems besetting the prison system in the country, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Tuesday.

Aside from the issues over the VIP treatment accorded to some influential inmates, De Lima said the President took note of the worsening congestion and drug problems inside the jails across the country.

“I expect the President to talk to me about … the short-term plan with respect to the NBP (New Bilibid Prison), especially the jail congestion,” De Lima told reporters.

“For me, the most serious problems (we should address) are jail congestion and drug problems,” she said.

De Lima said officials of the Department of Justice and its attached agencies—Bureau of Corrections, Parole and Probation Administration and Board of Pardons and Parole—would be summoned to the meeting.

In addition, De Lima said officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology would also be asked to attend the gathering.