Sen. Robin C. Padilla on Tuesday appealed to Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) officials not to punish the majority of inmates at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) over offenses committed by a few prisoners.
“Respect the rights of the New Bilibid Prison inmates and don’t punish the majority who want to change for the better, just because of a few who engage in crime such as escaping and engaging in the drug trade,” Padilla said.
Padilla also chided the recently recaptured Michael Catarroja for putting his fellow inmates in hot water, saying they stand to lose some of their privileges because of his escape.
“Michael, I know you apologized to the BuCor. But many inmates will suffer because of what you did. They will lose some privileges because of the acts of a few. You should have thought this over),” he said.
He called on the BuCor not to punish the other inmates, speaking as a “representative” not only of the Filipinos who elected him as a senator but also as someone who had stayed in prison.
“We should not put on trial all the inmates. We must focus on the few who bring in drugs and those who escape,” he said.
Padilla said investigators should focus on the details of Catarroja’s escape so they can make sure this does not happen again.
Likewise, he sought to dispel what he called the “myth” that some inmates are allowed to escape from Bilibid to commit crimes such as robbery or murder.
“I hope we can separate myth from truth,” he said.