Senate panels OK ‘state-of-the-art’ facility for heinous crime convicts

MANILA, Philippines— A bill that seeks to establish a separate “state-of-the-art” facility for heinous crime convicts has been approved by a joint panel at the Senate.

Fifteen senators signed a committee report on Senate Bill No. 1055 or “An act establishing a separate facility for prisoners convicts of heinous crimes.”

The report was prepared by three committees— justice, public order, and finance.

If approved into law, the Maximum Penal Institution would be built in a suitable location “preferably within a military establishment or [on] an island separate in the mainland.

The bill though also provides for the establishment of three Maximum Penal Institutions for heinous crimes— in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

“The Maximum Penal Institutions shall be a state-of-the-art facility with surveillance cameras, latest information and security system capable of 24/7 monitoring of prisoners, and with enhanced and extensive security features on locks, doors, and its perimeters,” it said.

“The facility shall be maintained clean and habitable at all times. Sanitary and hygienic comfort rooms shall be provided and maintained,” the bill added.

All high-level crime offenders kept at prison facilities of the Bureau of Corrections would be covered by the proposed measure.

According to the bill, the funds need for the implementation of the proposed law would be sourced from the budget of the Department of Justice./ac

READ: DILG, BJMP back proposed Alcatraz-like prison