150 Bilibid inmates moved to Southern Leyte prison

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ONE hundred fifty inmates from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City were transferred to the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Southern Leyte, the Bureau of Corrections said yesterday.

The transfer, with the inmates arriving in their new detention facility on Sunday, was part of the NBP’s first move this year to implement a broader program to decongest the national penitentiary in preparation for its phased closure by 2028.

BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said the latest transferees bring to 9,427 the total number of Bilibid inmates transferred to various operating penal and prison farms (OPPFs) since 2022.

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Catapang said that BuCor’s budget this year amounting to more than P9.2 billion has a provision in the amount of P288 million for the actual transfer of Bilibid inmates to various OPPFs.

BuCor personnel and men from the Muntinlupa police headquarters secured the transfer of the inmates to Southern Leyte.

Aside from the NBP and the Leyte Regional Prison, the BuCor also operates the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, the Davao Penal Colony, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, and the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro.

In November last year, the agency said it would need around P211 billion to construct 17 regional prison facilities and three specialized detention institutions across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to decongest the national penitentiary.

The congestion problem in its prison facilities has spurred the BuCor and the Department of Justice to institute a decongestion program in 2022, particularly at the NBP prior to its planned closure in 2028 and its conversion into a commercial and business center.

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