Remulla mulls Mindoro prison for NBP high-risk inmates

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla is considering transferring high-risk inmates at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP)’s maximum security compound to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro.

During yesterday’s visit to the Bureau of Corrections and the NBP in Muntinlupa City, Remulla said that he borrowed a friend’s helicopter to visit the Sablayan prison even before he took over the reins of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“One of the things that I inspected was the transfer of those from the maximum security compound to a place that seldom has visitors so that it would be easier to take care and secure those” who have been convicted by the courts to have committed of heinous crimes such as kidnap for ransom, rape, murder, and large-scale drug trafficking, Remulla said.

Seeing the location and large grounds of the Sablayan prison, the DOJ chief believes that it would be a better place for the NBP’s maximum-security inmates.

One way to stop “those with evil plans,” according to Remulla, is for BuCor personnel to sacrifice the use of cell phones.

Remulla said he told BuCor chief Gerald Bantag that “we have to really limit the communications. We have to make sacrifices because these are temptations.”

A BuCor employee would have difficulty resisting a large bribe, he added.

As for the NBP, Remulla said he intends to convert it into a national government center.