THE present leadership of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) discovered 15 horses, including a stallion, a python and gaming cocks inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa in a recent inspection of the prison compound.
BuCor officer-in-charge Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said they learned the animals were being cared for by the inmates.
Catapang said the horses were discovered in a lot outside the minimum-security compound, while the stallion was found in the national penitentiary’s agricultural area last Wednesday.
The python, on the other hand, was discovered by his men in a cage kept at the building housing the Director’s Quarter, or the official residence of the BuCor director general.
“Of course, iligal ‘yan or improper dahil pinapaalagaan mo sa mga preso or kahit pa sa mismong BuCor personnel. Bawal ‘yan sa loob ng compound (Of course, these are illegal or improper especially if it is cared for by inmates or even by BuCor personnel. They are not allowed here in the compound),” Catapang said.
But suspended BuCor chief Gerald Bantag, in an interview over radio DzBB, said the horses are used by security personnel when they do regular patrols in the sprawling NBP complex.
The BuCor headquarters and the prison facilities – maximum, medium and minimum- security compounds — occupy 254 hectares of the compound, while other lots in the NBP reservation, comprising of around 190 hectares, are being utilized for social housing projects for BuCor and Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and the Muntinlupa City local government.
Other areas in the prison compound are used for BuCor-supervised farms or occupied by informal settlers.
“‘Yang kabayo sa Bilibid ay para sa horseback riding patrol and pang habol sa mga tumatakas unlike sa all-terrain vehicle na napakamahal (The horses are for the horseback riding patrol and to chase escaping inmates since all-terrain vehicles are too expensive),” Bantag said.
Bantag had previously initiated a program to train BuCor personnel to use horses for patrol of areas where its prison facilities are located.
As to the python, he said, it was owned by a BuCor personnel.
“‘Yung sawa ay pagmamay-ari ng tauhan ko, iniwan niya sa akin,” he said.
Catapang expressed bewilderment at the presence of such animals inside the NBP complex.
“Di mo naman kailangang gumamit ng kabayo sa pag-iikot kasi sementado naman ang aming area, di naman mabundok dito (You do not need to use a horse to go around the compound because the entire area is cemented),” Catapang said.
Catapang said an investigation is ongoing to determine who will be held liable for bringing the animals inside the NBP.
The discovery of the animals is the latest irregularity to hit the national penitentiary.
Earlier this month, a huge stash of contraband items, including over 7,500 cans of beers, were confiscated in the maximum and medium security compound.
Last week, Catapang also announced the discovery of a 30-meter deep, 200-meter wide “tunnel” near the Director’s Quarter.
BILIBID SWIMMING POOL
Bantag yesterday said he directed the excavation near the eastern part of the Director’s Quarters six months earlier for the construction of “the deepest swimming pool” to be used by many BuCor personnel who were scuba diving enthusiasts like him.
The swimming pool, he added, would also be used by BuCor personnel to conduct water search and rescue training.
“Kailangan pa rin namin knowledgeable para sa water rescue kasi any time magka-flood puwedeng gamitin. At gusto ko ituloy-tuloy ‘yung water na ‘yun sa scuba diving (We need to be knowledgeable on water rescue since anytime there could be flooding and we could use it. And I also want to continue the water training activities to scuba diving),” he said.
He narrated that when he was still a jail warden at the Malabon City Jail, he and his men were able to save more than 200 residents at the height of the flooding brought by typhoon Ondoy in 2009.
He denied it was intended as an escape tunnel or for gold digging.
Bantag said no public fund was appropriated for the project because a private company called “ATOM” helped BuCor in funding the project.
He said the BuCor entered into a joint venture agreement with the firm wherein the former donated some 234 hectares of land in General Tinio in Nueva Ecija which can be used as a site for the BuCor to transfer part of the national penitentiary.
“Zero talaga ang gastos ng gobyerno doon. Ang kapalit noon, nag-donate ng 234 hectares at magiging business center ‘yan. At ang kikitain noon ay 35 percent para sa BuCor at 65 percent para sa developer (The government will spend nothing for the project. In return, the NBP will be developed by the donor into a government center of which around 35 percent of the profit will go to BuCor while 65 percent will go to the developer),” he added.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said once their plan to transfer the national penitentiary to the provinces is completed, the NBP complex will be developed into a government center.
As part of the prison decongestion measure, Remulla has said they are planning to transfer the NBP’s maximum security prison to Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, the medium security prison to Tanay in Rizal, and the minimum-security prison to Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City in Nueva Ecija.
NO NEED FOR DOJ APPROVAL
In the same interview, Bantag said there is no need for him to secure the approval of then Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for the swimming pool project.
He said as BuCor chief, he has the authority to initiate the project.
“Hindi na kailangang aprubahan ng DOJ noon dahil may authority naman ang BuCor director general (There is no need for DOJ’s approval as the BuCor director general already has the authority),” he said.
Guevarra, who served as DOJ secretary from 2018 to June 2022, on Wednesday said he has no knowledge of the excavation site inside the NBP.
“As a former justice secretary, I had absolutely no knowledge about this alleged excavation inside the NBP compound,” Guevarra, who is now the Marcos administration’s Solicitor General, said.
He added that since the project is an “operational matter, the BuCor probably found it necessary not to inform his office, much less seek authorization before proceeding.”
DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said Remulla has already directed Catapang to investigate the issue.
