MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice will tap the services of the military in securing the New Bilibid Prison when it starts demolishing the small huts (called “kubol”) at the Maximum Security Compound.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima temporary suspended the demolition of some 200 kubols inside the national penitentiary in the absence of a “systematic plan” for the transfer of the so-called living-out inmates who occupy the kubols.
De Lima said the security problem would worsen once the kubols are demolished and there is no place to relocate the affected prisoners.
“We will ask the help of the military once we have found the place where we can transfer the inmates occupying the kubols,” De Lima said.
Meanwhile, the composition of the Technical Working Group (TWG), which is tasked with implementing reforms at the national penitentiary as recommended by the fact-finding panel that investigated the Leviste caper, will be completed next week, according to De Lima.
De Lima said four or five inmates will be part of the TWG—one inmate from the Medium Security Prison and three or four from the Maximum Security Prison. Other members will come from concerned government agencies and organizations.
“I am thinking of tapping the services of inmates. These (inmates) were recommended to me and they have in-depth knowledge of the penal system. They can best tell us what is happening inside,” De Lima said.
De Lima had created a fact-finding panel that looked into the circumstances that allowed convicted killer former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste to sneak out of prison without permission.