Bantag to ban cellphone use by BuCor personnel, including self

MANILA, Philippines — Newly-appointed Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag said on Monday that he would not allow his personnel to use their cellphones while inside prison facilities.

Bantag said this after revelations during recent Senate hearings about illegal drug transactions using cellphones inside the New Bilibid Prison, despite signal jammers installed in the facility.

A strict inspection will take place and all cellphones of both prisoners and personnel will be confiscated, Bantag said in an interview over AM radio station DZMM.

Personnel will be included in the ban because they could sell cellphones to prisoners, Bantag explained.

He said the ban would also apply to him, pledging that he would abide by it.

Bantag replaced Nicanor Faeldon, whom President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed amid controversies surrounding the implementation of Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law that allowed the release of over nearly 2,000 heinous crime convicts.

/atm