The New Bilibid Prison. INQUIRER file photo.
An inmate inside the Maximum Security Compound of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) died after all inmates were ordered to stay outside while members of the Special Action Force (SAF) conduct a raid.
The inmate was identified as Efren Laurio, convicted of murder and meted the penalty of reclusion perpetua or 20 years and one day to 40 years imprisonment. His conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012.
A police source said Laurio died last Aug. 2.
The source said the SAF conducted a surprise inspection in the morning of Aug. 2. The inmates have not yet eaten their breakfast when they were ordered to get out of their cell and stay in the open area of the Maximum compound while they conduct inspection of contrabands and prohibited items.
The source said the search took hours.
“Hindi nya siguro nakaya. Diabetic kasi siya (Perhaps he didn’t survive it because he was diabetic),” another source said.
Two other inmates reportedly died due to hypertension but they have yet to be identified.
SAF, the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) elite unit took over manning the Bilibid last July 20. A total of 320 SAF men have been deployed and will work in three shifts to man the country’s national penitentiary.
READ: SAF now mans Bilibid
The SAF men took over manning Bilibid after some 200 prison guards were sent to undergo a retraining and to stop high-profile inmates from continuing their illegal activities.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Bilibid is the source of 75 percent of illegal drug transactions in the country. RAM
READ: Bilibid source of 75% of drug deals in PH—Aguirre