THE Bureau of Corrections yesterday started dismantling “kubols” at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City and six other prison and penal colonies across the country in the wake of the recapture of an inmate in Angono, Rizal last week.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said 23 dormitories in six buildings inside the NBP complex have been dismantled in the operation that started early yesterday morning.
Catapang said each floor inside the NBP compound has about 60 to 70 kubols, with each kubol usually housing five to 10 inmates.
However, he said some of the kubols have only one occupant, the mayores or the inmates’ cell leader.
“Only the walls are being removed,” he said, adding the inmates put up the walls to give them a semblance of privacy.
He said the walls should be dismantled to enable jail guards making the rounds to see what the inmates are doing inside.
He said the dismantling operation will continue until all the kubols are demolished.
Last Sunday, Catapang said he ordered inmates to voluntarily dismantle all kubols in the NBP and six other prison and penal farms operated by the agency.
The six other prison and penal farms operated by BuCor are the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, 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.
He said the kubols are not the luxury type seen in previous administrations used by influential and moneyed inmates but are makeshift dividers made of plywood that the inmates constructed themselves.
As of August 19, Catapang said Bilibid inmates had voluntarily dismantled 60 makeshift rooms or kubols located at the security housing building 1 and 6 NBP North, SHB 9 NBP East Quadrant 4 and SHB 7 NBP West Quadrant 2 while the dismantling of kubols in Quadrant 3 Maximum security compound is still ongoing.
