Handbook on inmates’ handling launched by PDEA

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has come out with guidelines aimed at tightening security at its detention facilities to prevent the entry of contraband to inmates.

The PDEA Detention Facility Manual will serve as the handbook on the handling and management of inmates held in the agency’s detention centers.

The handbook, written in collaboration with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), was signed on Tuesday by PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr. and BJMP Director Diony Mamaril.

‘Greyhound’

“The manual of operations was collaboratively done for the purpose of standardizing the conduct of ‘Operation: Greyhound’ nationwide to search and preempt the influx of prohibited items, most especially illegal drugs, inside prison cells,” Cacdac said.

He said the manual conformed to the standards and requirements of the Commission on Human Rights.

The signing of the manual—as well as the PDEA-BJMP Manual of Operations in the Conduct of Search and Seizure of Dangerous Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia in Jail Facilities—was held at PDEA’s Quezon City headquarters.

Last month, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima led the National Bureau of Investigation in a series of raids at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City where contraband, including illegal drugs, cash, guns and other prohibited items, were discovered inside prisoners’ luxurious cells.

BJMP role

The PDEA technical working group which worked on both handbooks was headed by the PDEA Intelligence and Investigation Service. Cacdac also thanked the BJMP for its role in the process.

He encouraged PDEA personnel, particularly its jail guards, to “embrace this manual by heart and understand the policies surrounding it.”

PDEA guards recently underwent a two-week custodial officer training ahead of the new manual’s implementation.

“The detention facility manual encompasses the basic rules and procedures every custodial officer must know and understand with regard to humane safekeeping, security and control of individuals arrested and temporarily held at our detention facilities for drug-related offenses,” Cacdac said.