New law imprisons heinous criminals on island or military base
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The government is closer to moving prisoners convicted of heinous crimes away from the general population after the Department of Justice (DOJ) finished drafting the implementing rules and regulations for the law establishing facilities just for them.
Republic Act No. 11928, otherwise known as the Separate Facility for Heinous Crimes Act, lapsed into law in July.
It provides for the construction of at least three separate facilities for high-level offenders—one each for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“The facility shall be built in a suitable location away from the general population and other PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) and preferably within a military establishment or on an island separate from the mainland,” Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano, the DOJ spokesperson, said on Wednesday.
He said each facility will be located in an isolated but secure place to prevent “unwarranted” contact or communication from outside of the penal institution.
At each facility, male and female PDLs will be held in separate buildings. Another dormitory will be provided for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
Latest technology
According to the DOJ official, the facilities for these heinous crime convicts will have “state-of-the-art” surveillance cameras and the latest information technology and security systems able to monitor inmates 24 hours a day. Their locks, doors and perimeters will have “enhanced and extensive security features.”
Provisions for solar, biogas, rainwater harvesting, and the like will be included in designing and building each of the facilities to allow self-sustainability required by the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013 and other existing laws and regulations, he said.
Clavano said the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) would ensure that inmates were allowed to communicate with their relatives and lawyers through visits and by phone, video or correspondence following the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and other international standards.
To do this, each facility will be equipped with effective and efficient information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and software that follow the accepted standard for the digitization of all information necessary for the buildup, maintenance and transmittal of necessary PDL records to all the prison and penal farms of the BuCor and other authorized government agencies.
Eases congestion
Clavano added that the ICT infrastructure and software system would have a maintenance plan and integration model for information sharing with other law enforcement agencies and for effective monitoring of the inmates.
The transfer of convicts classified as high-level offenders will be made within 30 days from the completion of the construction of the facilities, he said.
The new law would also address congestion problems in all the prison facilities managed by BuCor.
As of October 2022, New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City has an inmate population of 29,204, almost five times its intended capacity of 6,345.
The number of inmates in various BuCor prisons nationwide was 50,141 last month. As of March this year, heinous crime convicts numbered 3,608 in all seven BuCor prisons and penal farms.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla had said he was considering the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm reservation in Occidental Mindoro province as a site for one facility.
Another may be put up at the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte province, and a third at the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.
