THE Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) yesterday suspended the visitation rights of inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City and the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City after 32 inmates tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The cancellation is “effective immediately until further notice.”
Dr. Maria Cecilia Villanueva, BuCor acting director of Health and Welfare Services, said the 32 inmates tested positive out of the 407 who underwent antigen testing.
Villanueva said 18 of those who tested positive for the virus were symptomatic.
The afflicted inmates will be isolated to prevent the virus from spreading, she added.
“Ang isa sa nagpositive is a 63-year-old na person deprived of liberty (PDL) (One of those who tested positive is a 63-year-old PDL),” Villanueva said in a television interview.
She said they have started contact tracing and has expanded their antigen testing.
These are the first reported COVID cases in the national penitentiary in more than two years since the pandemic began in 2020.
Of the 50,126 inmates detained at the NBP, CIW and five other prison and penal facilities operated by BuCor, 29,530 are detained at the NBP’s maximum, medium and minimum-security compounds as of January 2023.
Of the 29,530, more than 17,000 are being held at the NBP’s maximum security compound, including big-time drug lords who are held at Building 14.
On Tuesday night, the agency also cancelled an event scheduled at 9 a.m. Wednesday without providing additional details as to the reason.
The event, with the theme “Empowering the Elderly and Persons with Disability,” would have been attended by BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang, former BuCor chief Ricardo Rainier Cruz who is now the Commissioner of the National Commission on Senior Citizen (NCSC), and NCSC chairperson Franklin Quijano.
