NBP shows off new and improved jail facility

What a difference six months can make.

Facilities that were once shabby, underequipped and filthy at the Maximum Security Compound of New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City are now clean and well-equipped, six months after the corrections system was in the limelight following reports on the “sleep out privilege” given to   convicted former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio Leviste.

During a tour for the media Thursday, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials and detainees at the NBP showed off what has changed since the incident last May.

First on the itinerary was the prison hospital, which was once described by inmates as hot, dirty and ill-equipped. It now has an air-conditioned intensive care unit, emergency room and several wards.

“In the past six months, an X-ray machine, ECG [electrocardiograph] and several blood-pressure-taking devices (sphygmomanometers) were brought to the hospital,” said the inmate who toured us but who declined to give his name.

What was also once a bare concrete floor has now been tiled.

Sixteen doctors, two dentists and inmates who volunteered to be attendants man around 500 patients at  the infirmary.

“Kubols” or huts, which used to house prominent inmates of the Maximum Security Compound, have also been renovated.

BuCor chief Gaudencio Pangilinan said the structures, which he preferred to call “cubicles,” are given as reward for “good” inmates, students or those who volunteer to keep prison facilities in good condition.

“We will apply this to the big dormitories here as well, slowly but surely,” he added.

The inmate-tour guide also showed to the media improved basketball and tennis courts painted in bright red and blue colors, open spaces filled with trees to while the time away, and even a coffee shop, and a music practice room, all in good physical condition.

A legal assistance center, founded by Leviste, has also been set up.

The ex-governor said he hopes the project would receive more government support.