Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday gave new Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon three mission orders, including stopping the illegal drugs being brought to the penitentiaries being administered by the bureau.
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Guevarra issued the orders to Faeldon after Faeldon took his oath as the successor of retired Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa, who resigned from the bureau to run for senator in May 2019 midterm elections. The bureau is under the supervision of the Office of the Justice Secretary.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Faeldon’s appointment papers on Monday but those were released to the reporters only on Wednesday.
Justice Undersecretary and spokesman Mark Perete said that, aside from addressing the problem of illegal drug trading, particularly in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Guevarra also ordered Faeldon to “prioritize resolving the problem of congestion and security of prisoners, as well as studying the possibility of transferring some facilities of the bureau to a different locality.”
Then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had worked for the deployment of a 300-man Philippine National Police-Special Action Force contingent to secure the NBP’s maximum-security compound to stop the illegal activities there.
The bureau also installed signal jammers to prevent the inmates involved in illegal activities from communicating with their cohorts outside.
Perete said the maximum-security facility housing high-profile inmates, such as those convicted of drug trafficking would stay at the NBP, but others may be transferred.
Two areas had been identified to house the other facilities, but Perete declined to identify those.
The previous leaders at the bureau had pressed for the building of a new facility in Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, that could eventually replace the NBP as the country’s main prison facility.
But the project has been put on hold due to the legal issues raised by private claimants in both the NBP land in Muntinlupa and the property in Fort Magsaysay.
The Nueva Ecija facility is designed to accommodate 26,880 inmates and has facilities for staff and administrative buildings and areas for rehabilitation and religious activities.
Aside from the NBP, Faeldon will also have jurisdiction over the Abuyog Penal Colony in Leyte, Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm. With Nat Mariano
READ: Here's why Faeldon won’t take BuCor post