Albayalde: SAF not allowing contraband inside NBP

MANILA, Philippines — The chief of Philippine National Police (PNP) assured the public that personnel of the Special Action Force (SAF) assigned to guard the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) are not allowing contraband to enter the prison.

This was after Godfrey Gamboa, an NBP inmate bared that cellphones and television sets were being allowed inside the Muntinlupa City-based penitentiary.

“Hindi rin involve ang SAF sa pagpasok na illegal gadgets diyan [SAF is not involved in sneaking illegal gadgets] and contraband inside the [Bilibid],” PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said in a press conference in Camp Crame on Tuesday when asked about criticisms of some guards allowing contraband inside the prison.

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Albayalde explained that SAF members “guard the premises” of the NBP, noting that only the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) guards are authorized to enter the facility and inspect the inmates.

“‘’Yung pagpasok kasi hindi purely SAF yun. May BuCor dun. Yung papasok ka kakapain ka? Hindi purely SAF ‘yun baka mamisconstrue ng tao,” he said.

“Ang SAF hindi pumapasok sa loob ng facility kaya sinasabi namin sa kanila ang authorized sa loob ay BuCor guards,” he added.

Albayalde further defended the SAF troops, saying they do not have “personal interactions” and “personal contact” with the inmates.

He added that SAF troops do not have “friendly” relations with the inmates as the PNP regularly rotates the assigned SAF troops every six months.

Albayalde added that some BuCor guards are also “relaxed” when conducting body search of inmates which may allow illegal items to enter.

“This was what we found out na meron silang kakilala na guard na kapag duty ‘yung guard ‘yung pagkapa medyo relax yung pagkapa. ‘Dun sa papasok kaya kung minsan may nakakapasok na gadgets o cellphone,” he said.  /muf