Bilibid VIPs, ‘mentally ill’ in 1 building

Upon their return to Muntinlupa City, the so-called “Bilibid VIPs” will be housed in a newly renovated building—which they will share with another group of prisoners requiring special attention.

The 19 high-profile convicts held since December at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters will soon be transferred to a facility which also allots a section for inmates who are “mentally ill,” according to Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Franklin Bucayu.

The BuCor chief was referring to Building 14 of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), which is currently undergoing a P30-million renovation.

The building, which is located at the maximum security compound, is designed for 50 to 100 inmates.   It will have its own access routes isolating it from the other 13 buildings in the compound.

It will be equipped with 24-hour surveillance cameras, jamming devices and other state-of-the-art security systems.

Renovation plans for the building took shape late last year after the NBI conducted a series of raids targeting moneyed Bilibid inmates, mostly drug lords who had managed to live in virtual luxury while continuing with their illegal transactions behind bars.

Nineteen inmates were then moved to the NBI in Manila.

On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered a stricter inspection of the food and other items being brought to the inmates, noting how they had become “resourceful” especially in smuggling in mobile phones.

“Some of their methods are rather amusing,” De Lima said.

A recent inspection of the NBI detention center found phones hidden in a water cooler, a kitchen gadget and hollowed-out soles of footwear. A phone was once found inside a cooked fish, De Lima said.

The secretary expressed disappointment over the smuggling attempts since she agreed just recently to restore the prisoners’ visiting privileges.

As to the renovation of Building 14 at Bilibid, De Lima said the project would only be a temporary measure since the government would eventually construct a P50-billion prison complex in Laur, Nueva Ecija province.

The complex will house convicts both from the NBP and the Women’s Correctional Institute in Mandaluyong City, which are both overcrowded.

The bidding process for the complex is still going on and the contract is set to be awarded in September. The complex is expected to be completed in 2019.