BuCor shuts NBP reservation

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has decided to lock down the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) reservation to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a move that has raised protests from residents.

 In a memorandum, BuCor director-general Gerald Bantag placed the entire NBP reservation under “community lockdown” starting yesterday.

 Only BuCor employees and their relatives, including their vehicles, would be allowed to enter through the main gate and the Daanghari gate, it noted.

Public transport vehicles like jeepneys and tricycles would be barred from entry, it added.

Persons and vehicles going to Katarungan Village from the NBP reservation can come in, while the NBP’s NHA gate – which gives access to Southville 3 village – will be “totally (closed).”

Residents of communities like Southville 3 and Katarungan Village complained about the measure, mostly saying they would no longer have other ways to go home.

 Even Allen Ampaya, chairman of Barangay Poblacion that covers the NBP reservation area, declared, “We were not consulted by the BuCor on their decision.”

 Later, he advised residents of Southville 3 that they would indeed be prohibited from entering the NBP reservation through the NHA gate, “For the safety of NBP inmates and BuCor employees and to avoid possible infection especially at the NBP’s maximum security compound.”

 The barangay would instead provide shuttle service to residents of the village who would go out for work, wherein they would be brought to Susana Heights, he noted.

 Those entering the NBP reservation through the gate at Katarungan Village should present proof of residence there, and would only be allowed to go out at Daanghari gate.