Bilibid inmates to be moved to 2 Mimaropa colonies

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) will soon start moving convicts from New Bilibid Prison (NBP) to two penal colonies in the Mimaropa region because of overcrowding in Muntinlupa City, Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay Villar said on Friday.

The NBP detainees will be moved to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro province and Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan province.

Originally built for only 6,000 prisoners, the national penitentiary currently holds nearly 29,000 convicts, or an occupancy rate of almost 500 percent.

BuCor officials have blamed congestion as one of the major reasons for the violent clashes among prison gangs. Officials said the real solution would be to build new prison facilities possibly in Nueva Ecija, Mindoro Occidental, or Isabela.

Villar said the Sablayan prison already had a population of 2,675, or about 200 percent more than its ideal population of 994 convicts. —MARLON RAMOS