Marcos seeks Senate probe of prison anomalies

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate should conduct an inquiry into the unabated smuggling of deadly weapons, drugs, luxury items and other contraband into the country’s prisons, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said yesterday.

Marcos filed Senate Resolution 1682 so that the chamber can conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the country’s overall correctional penitential policy, enforcement, discipline, security measures and weaknesses.

He said reports of illegal activities would show how prison officials failed to enforce their mandate to reform inmates and help them prepare for a normal and productive life upon reintegrating into mainstream society. 

 “These reports about the life inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) not only shock the senses, morality and decency of the law-abiding Filipino people, but also erode their faith and confidence in the correctional pillar of our criminal justice system,” he said. 

Marcos also noted that recent reports of the discovery of more contraband in the NBP came on the heels of the discovery of the existence of “kubols” and the VIP treatment of high-profile inmates from 2011 to 2014.

Noting that these illegal activities occurred right under the noses of the government’s correctional agencies and officers and within the state’s primary maximum security prison, Marcos said it could only happen “either by deliberate complicity or utter neglect.”

Marcos warned that “these systemic and institutional flaws of the penitentiary system pose a clear and present danger not just to the national justice system but also to national security.”