"Life in the state prison isn't so bad if you can afford the privileges."
"Life in the state prison isn't so bad if you can afford the privileges."
It seems there is no end to money-making at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa. After anomalies of drug trafficking and bringing in of prostitutes for overnight sleeping with moneyed detainees, the Senate inquiry discovered that the food allowances of prisoners is less than the prescribed value of daily food provided by the chosen caterer.
The usual daily food of prisoners consists of galunggong fish and kangkong vegetable. No tilapia for them. But if they have the money, they can have a different kind of “tilapia”—those who can be had by Very Important Prisoners for P30,000 a night.
We are told that these VIP detainees have their own kubol or huts as private quarters for their nocturnal privileges. These and other irregularities at the national penitentiary have been going on and tolerated no matter who the Bucor chief is. Recall how detainee Tony Leviste of the Batangas landed family used to go in and out of prison to spend a few nights at one of his condo towers in Salcedo Village, Makati until he was found out. Leviste was convicted of the fatal shooting of his own bodyguard.
No tilapia for him, only bangus and probably first-class steak at P50,000 a night plus grease money for his jailers. Yes, life in the state prison isn’t so bad if you can afford the privileges.
Perhaps a lifestyle check on the BuCor boss and his minions should be ordered by the Department of Justice, on recommendation of the Senate committee investigating the shady deals going on in Muntinlupa. Big bucks are being made on a small patch of land. Beats farming under the heat of the sun and typhoons destroying the planted crops, right?
If you want to hear some really grim stories, there are also hardened criminals who are released and used as hired guns. What better alibi than for the killer to claim how he could not be the perpetrator when he’s in prison? Jail guards will support his story so as not to incriminate themselves. Police reporters know this but do not have proof to substantiate their stories.
A concerned citizen suggested that hardened criminals and recidivists together with their corrupt jailers should be assigned in a prison facility in Sulu where, if they escape, they could fall into the hands of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group. Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?
This is a nightmarish situation when the law enforcers do not enforce the law and in fact violate it to make money for themselves.
A Gringo Honasan or a Danny Lim seems like the right person to straighten things out at the Bureau of Correction.
Senator Richard Gordon, with his probing questions of Bucor officials, should be commended for his relentless pursuit of justice and for helping efforts to weed out the corrupt at the Bureau of Corrections. Is he grandstanding for his pursuit of the presidency in 2022? No matter what his end game is as long as he is performing his duties as senator, the people should be thankful.
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It will, however, be a crowded field of presidential wannabes in 2022 with Senators Cynthia Villar, Manny Pacquiao et al. also as possible runners. What’s this we hear that Senator Christopher “Bong” Go is the preferred presidential candidate of China? Just asking. Sometimes a rumor can assume a life of its own.
Pacquiao? Don’t underestimate him. He’s smarter than you think and Filipinos elect candidates more for their popularity than anything else. Hence we had presidents like Noynoy Aquino and Erap Estrada.
At least, Pacquiao is an honest man who made his fortune with his fists—by rearranging the face of his opponents.