PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Friday ordered the transfer of prisoners who are about to finish serving their sentences to military camps to decongest the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.
Mr. Aquino said the military camps, including the Philippine Military Academy, will absorb the prisoners as “maintenance workforce.”
The Bilibid prison can hold only 9,000 inmates but now houses more than 20,000. That means each cell that is meant for five people now holds 12 to 13.
“A piece of fish that is supposed to be for one prisoner will be shared by three inmates,” Mr. Aquino said during the launching of the Bureau of Corrections road map on Friday.
“This is why we are looking for a better location for the NBP to transform it into a more effective correctional facility.”
Mr. Aquino said he had also ordered the Justice Department to include data from the bureau in the computerized National Justice Information System database.
“It was brought to my attention that prisoners who have served their sentences and were supposed to have been freed a long time ago remain imprisoned because data on their cases are still in index cards,” Mr. Aquino said.
“These index cards are easily doctored because there is no efficient system and proper coordination among the concerned agencies.”
Mr. Aquino also renewed his pitch for the Bureau of Corrections Modernization Bill to provide more equipment and training to jail guards and wardens. Joyce Pangco Pañares"