De Lima says condition at NBP sub-human

Monday, 06 June 2011 09:21

Inmates at the National Bilibid Penitentiary (NBP) are living under extremely difficult conditions due to congestion problems, Justice Secretary Laila de Lima told a House probe body.

Appearing before the House Committee on Justice, chaired by Rep. Niel Tupas (5th district, Iloilo), De Lima said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking ways to remedy the situation and is bent on adopting measures to decongest the NBP. "I will tell you that the congestion problem is quite severe. It is sub-human now. I made an ocular inspection before the Leviste incident occurred, both in the medium and maximum security (areas) The excess occupancy rate there is generally more than 200 percent. Talo pa po ang mga sardinas sa kondisyon ng isang selda," De Lima said.

De Lima said one of the measures they are seriously considering is regionalization of the NBP but there are problems of facilities and funding.

De Lima said the long term and most desirable plan is the unified penitentiary system that is being proposed by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City).

"We don't know what to call it yet, but there ought to be now a unified penitentiary system," De Lima said.

De Lima said under the current set-up, provincial jails are under the local government units (LGUs), the BuCor is under the DOJ, and detainees in the hands of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) are under the DILG.

"The absence of a unified penitentiary system is the reason why concerned agencies cannot address the problems using a holistic approach," De Lima said.

De Lima said the DOJ would assess, review and revisit the plan to transfer the inmates from Bilibid to what they envision as the Bilibid Estate.

"It's a long-term plan but I think it's high time for the executive to decide if we will push through with the plan to transfer to the Bilibid Estate or just concentrate on the regionalization plan," De Lima said.

"That is included in the president's agenda. Perhaps whatever ideas or proposal we will come-up with, in addition to what we have proposed already in our report regarding the Leviste incident, we will be pleased to share them with Congress," De Lima added.