Robin Padilla seeks decongestion, regionalization of New Bilibid Prison


Senator Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla sought Thursday the immediate decongestion and regionalization of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) as a concrete solution against syndicates - especially those involved in illegal drugs - still operating inside the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.

Padilla, a former inmate of the national penitentiary, lamented that the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) remains a den for bad people, especially after drug lords were incarcerated there.

Also, Padilla stressed anew the need for regionalization to help the rehabilitation of inmates by making it easier for their families and loved ones to visit them.

In today’s deliberation on the proposed 2023 P5.2 trillion national budget, Senate finance committee chairman Juan Edgardo Angara noted the Department of Justice (DOJ) would include programs for regionalization in its 2024 budget as it continues to study the issues involved.

"Isa po itong kongkretong solusyon sa problema unang-una, ng sobrang population ng bilanggo sa NBP (Regionalization is a concrete solution because Bilibid is congested).Dapat diyan ay nasa 5,000 lang yata o 4,000. Noong panahon namin nasa 12,000 kami diyan (While it is designed to hold 4,000 to 5,000 inmates, there were 12,000 when I was incarcerated there). Naalala ko pa ho noon pag sa gabi ang kalahati matutulog ang kalahati nakaupo, yan noong panahon namin sa kulungan (It was such that at night, half the inmates would sleep while half are forced to sit). At amoy sindikato kaming lahat dahil punong puno na ang selda. Ang selda dapat nasa 40 lang pero lumalabas doon 80 kami (Each cell that is supposed to accommodate 40 inmates held up to 80 inmates)," Padilla said in his interpellation of the 2023 budget of the Department of Justice.

"Noong panahon namin, ang mga gang (sa loob ng Bilibid) ay may prinsipyo. Kami po ay may sinusunod na batas at ang mga batas pong yan talagang nadidisiplina po namin ang mga kapatid naming bilanggo. Pero nang nagdatingan diyan ang mga drug lords, doon na po nagkagulo-gulo. Nawala na po ang tinatawag naming batas sa loob ng kulungan (During my time, gangs in Bilibid had principles and discipline. But when the drug lords came, all that discipline was gone)," he added

Meanwhile, Padilla noted that if the prisons are regionalized, it would be easier for families of inmates to visit them, thus helping in the rehabilitation process.

One of Padilla's first bills involved the regionalization of Bilibid to address the problem of decongestion and to ensure that inmates are visited by their loved ones.

"Ang sinasabi nating BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) mahirap i-correct ang taong may problema sa pamilya. Ang Number 1 solution para ma-rehab ang isang bilanggo yung kasama niya ang kanyang pamilya (The Bureau of Corrections said it is hard to correct people who have problems with their families. The Number one solution to rehabilitate an inmate is to have him/her spend time with family)," Padilla said.