Facade of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), with the sign of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). Image from the BuCor website
MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officer-in-charge Gregorio Catapang on Monday said he plans to conduct on-the-spot drug tests among their personnel and persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the New Bilibid Prison next year.
Catapang said this idea came to mind after a visitor attempted to bring illegal drugs inside the Bilibid.
“Kaya po nga next year, mag-on-the-spot drug test [kami] sa mga kawani at sa mga inmates o PDLs in coordination with PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) po,” he told Teleradyo’s Kabayan.
(Next year, we will do on-the-spot drug tests for personnel and inmates or PDLs in coordination with PDEA.)
Personnel who will test positive for illegal drugs will be charged, said Catapang. PDLs with positive drug test results will have a longer sentence, he added.
He likewise said that he will hold a safe management seminar to improve the mindset of BuCor personnel.
“Pipilitin ko pong baguhin ‘yung kaisipan ng mga tao dito. Kasi ang kaisipan po dito, ‘what is it for me?’ Kailangan baguhin nila po ‘yun, ‘what is it for the BuCor?’ he pointed out.
(I will try to change the mindset of the people here. Because their mindset is, “What is it for me?” Their mindset should be, “What is it for BuCor?”)
Irregularities hounding BuCor have been exposed after Catapang took the agency’s leadership.
Inside the national penitentiary, canned beers were seized, an allegedly illegal excavation was discovered, and a menagerie of horses, game fowls, and pythons was found.