THE implementing rules and regulation (IRR) that will govern the transfer of inmates convicted of heinous crimes and serving their sentences at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City will be issued within 90 days, the Bureau of Corrections said yesterday.
Lawyer Julie Taguiam, chief of the BuCor Public Information Office, said their technical working group is working on the IRR and other issues governing not only the construction of facilities to house the inmates but also such issues as the visiting hours of their families.
“Inaasahan namin na within 90 days magkakaroon na tayo ng IRR na isasagawa ito ng (We expect that within 90 days an IRR will be issued by) BuCor and Department of Justice for the transfer of heinous crime convicts,’ Taguiam told the Laging Handa public briefing.
As to how many heinous crimes convicts the BuCor is planning to transfer from the national penitentiary, Taguiam said they expect that it would cover the 17,490 inmates currently detained at the NBP’s maximum security compound.
The NBP houses 28,900 inmates, including those detained at the maximum-security compound. The national penitentiary was originally meant to house at most 6, 000 inmates when it was constructed in 1940.
Aside from the NBP, the BuCor also operates the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte.
Though Taguiam did not identify the facility where the inmates will be transferred, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has identified the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm as the “most ideal’ place to hold these inmates.
Established on September 27, 1954, by virtue of Proclamation No.72, SPPC has a total land area of 16, 190 hectares.
It is also the nearest penal colony from Metro Manila operated by the BuCor.
Currently, the SPPC is designed for minimum security inmates.
The DOJ and BuCor also said they are eyeing a facility in Nueva Ecija to house inmates detained at the NBP’s minimum security compound.
Remulla said if the plan pushes through, the NBP compound will become a government center.
He said decongesting the NBP is a top priority of the department under his watch.
At present, the overall congestion rate of the NBP and other BuCor-operated prison facilities stood at 330 percent.
