Signal jammers to be installed in Bilibid’s Building 14

One of the two signal jammers that will be installed at Building 14 of the New Bilibid Prison./Photo: Tetch Torres-Tupas, INQUIRER.net

Two signal jammers have arrived at the Department of Justice (DOJ) which will be installed inside Building 14 at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Building 14 is a 1,200 square meter property within the NBP’s Maximum Security Compound. Its gate, however is not accessible via the heavily guarded main entrance and has no access to the Maximum Security compound. Its gate is along the main road of the New Bilibid Prison leading to the Reception and Diagnostic Center and near the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Museum, formerly the lethal injection chamber.

The building currently houses 53 high profile inmates, including Herbert “Ampang” Colanggo, Jaybee Sebastian, and Peter Co, who allegedly still managed to continue drug operations despite incarceration.

The jammers from South Korea are worth P2-million each and, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, are  10 times more powerful than the improvised jammer inside Bilibid. He, however, refused to reveal the identity of the Filipino who donated the jammers.

Each jammer can cover 1,200 square meter area and both will be installed from both ends of Building 14.

“Para walang kawala (So that nothing can get past them),” said Aguirre.

However, Aguirre said they still need more jammers for the nine hectare Maximum Security Compound and another for the Medium Security Prison.

Engineers who will install the jammers said a tower type cellsite jammer is needed for the Maximum Security Prison.

Aguirre earlier said that it is important to cut off the inmates’ communication to the outside in order to stop illegal drug transactions.

Despite a series of raids, inmates still have managed to sneak in mobile phones.

In the more than 30 Oplan Galugad conducted by former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Rainier Cruz, they have confiscated over thousands of mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices.

However, when members of the Special Action Force (SAF) took over, they still managed to seize almost 2,000 mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices. JE/rga

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