The Muntinlupa City Council passed on Monday a resolution strongly condemning the closure of another road inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) reservation and called on Congress to conduct an inquiry into the legality and validity of the move.

Majority Floor Leader Coun. Raul Corro said the City Council passed the resolution in its regular session on June 14.

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Sunday built a 4-feet wall on a road leading to the Type B area inside the NBP reservation, preventing vehicles from passing through.

In March, BuCor erected a wall on the Insular Prison Road in the reservation that was being used by residents of Southville 3 housing project to go to the city proper.

This became a heated issue between BuCor and the Muntinlupa City government with Biazon filing a resolution for the House of Representatives to investigate the matter. The Department of Justice has not made a decision on this.

In his privilege speech, Corro said BuCor appears to have misinterpreted the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, the BuCor Modernization Law, as basis for the recent road closure.

"The Bucor Law is not superior to the Constitution, the new local government code, the Urban Development and Housing Act, and other existing laws. When the general welfare of our constituents is directly affected, we cannot remain silent or condone such clear violations of our existing laws,” he said.

Corro said the access road has been serving the residents of Type B residents for many decades. He noted that the city government will continue to express its collective sentiment against BuCor’s alleged violations to protect the general welfare of city residents directly affected by the policies implemented by the national agency.

"BuCor has the propensity to implement policies affecting the welfare of our constituents without prior consultation and coordination with the city government as mandated by existing laws,” said Corro.

He cited two examples of these policies implemented by BuCor without prior consultation. One is the transfer of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive inmates from its penal facility in Mandaluyong City to NBP reservation, and the other is the eviction and demolition of homeless and underprivileged citizens without securing compliance certificate from the Local Housing Board as mandated by the Urban Development and Housing Act and local ordinances.

Under the City Council resolution, the city government will also seek assistance from Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon for the conduct of a congressional inquiry on BuCor’s latest decision.

Gabriel Chaclag, BuCor deputy director general for operations and administration, told the Manila Bulletin that the new road closure is different from the issue of the Insular Prison Road.

“There is no comparison to the first wall built because this is not an access road compared to the first . There should be no civilians in the area. BuCor personnel should be in this area and they have access as there is a decal that can be used to pass through the (BuCor) administration building area,” said Chaclag.

He said that in closing the road leading to Type B area, vital facilities of BuCor will be secured including the Corrections Training School with almost 200 trainees and engineering section and that illegal settlers should not be in the area.

The NBP reservation, he said, is a government security camp so there is no need to get permission from the local government unit if BuCor will open or close an internal roadway.

Biazon scored BuCor for the new road closure, saying, “It is deplorable that in spite of the issue of non-coordination with LGUs and the illegality of erecting a wall on a road in violation of the civil code when BuCor blocked the road leading to Southville, BuCor has once again done the same in the area called Type B.”

“The bureau is overextending the interpretation of the provision of the BuCor modernization law and using it to oppress the citizens of Muntinlupa residing in NBP. Their justification for doing such measures are unacceptable since there are other ways to address the security concerns of the Bureau. This is disrespect not only to the officials of Muntinlupa but to the Secretary of Justice himself who is still in the middle of efforts to try to resolve the issue of the blockage of Insular Road,” said Biazon.

Last March, the city government condemned BuCor’s action to construct a concrete wall along Insular Prison Road.

The Muntinlupa City Council and Sangguniang Barangay of Brgy. Poblacion passed resolutions requesting the DOJ to order BuCor to reopen the road going to and from Southville 3 and requesting Congress to conduct an investigation.