Bato eyes Prison ‘segregation’ to isolate Chinese drug lords

Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald Dela Rosa. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

It’s just like separating two rival gangs in a deadly prison riot.

For newly appointed Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, segregating convicted Chinese drug lords from their Filipino cohorts inside New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City may just do the trick to finally rid the state penitentiary of illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa, the former Philippine National Police chief who on Friday took his oath of office as BuCor head before Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, said budgetary requirements would also be a key to complying with President Duterte’s directive to stop the narcotics trade in the NBP.

“The Chinese drug lords have the contacts with the supplier [of illegal drugs] in China while the Filipino drug lords know the local distributors here in the Philippines,” Dela Rosa told a press briefing.

“This problem has two components. If you segregate the supply side, or the Chinese, they cannot communicate with the Filipino drug distributors… We should cut off the demand and supply,” he said.

Dela Rosa, the primary enforcer of Mr. Duterte’s brutal campaign against drugs when he was still the PNP chief, said he would also look into the status of drug convicts who had been confined in hospitals.

“Some of them had been staying in hospitals for several months. While they are there, anybody can go there,” he said.

Guevarra vowed to support Dela Rosa’s request for additional budget for the BuCor in instituting reforms in the country’s prison system.

“For 2019, we’ll make sure that the (BuCor) will have substantial adjustments or increase in its budgetary allocation… We’ll make sure that only appropriate funds shall be released so that you may be able to discharge your functions easily,” the justice secretary said.