Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said the walls built by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) that restricted the access of vehicles and residents from the city proper of Muntinlupa would soon be re-opened.
Guevarra said that the BuCor agreed to replace the walls with a control gate that could be accessed by pedestrians.
“The BuCor, after consultations with the DOJ, will remove the roadblock off the Katarungan Villages as soon as a control gate, which was the original plan, has been put up,” Guevarra said, in a text message.
According to him, the control gate would be placed near the concrete bridge where BuCor had already dug a hole last Friday, using a backhoe.
“The BuCor will install the control gate as soon as possible. Once the control gate is in place, they will remove the concrete barriers. But pedestrians can pass, I was so informed,” he added.
BuCor built walls to close off Insular Prison Road, which leads to the Southville 3 government housing project, and a road to the residential community of Type B in March and June, respectively.
Last week, BuCor again attempted to build another wall that would have reportedly cut off the access of residents of Katarungan Villages Phase 1 and 2, a DOJ housing project, to the city proper. But irate residents reportedly tore the wall down.
Guevarra also said that aside from putting up a control gate, the BuCor might also close some of the interior access roads located within the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) compound to strengthen the security of the compound. Rey E. Requejo
“I understand that some interior access roads may also be closed for security reasons, but these will reportedly not affect any residential community,” the Justice Secretary said.
This added security measure might not need the approval of the Muntinlupa City government since these are interior roads that are only being used by BuCor personnel.
Meanwhile, Guevarra said BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag had asked the local government of Muntinlupa not to implement its resolution that declared him persona non grata.
“DG Bantag has respectfully requested the Sangguniang Lungsod ng Muntinlupa to reconsider its resolution declaring him persona non grata,” he said.