The majority floor leader of the Muntinlupa City Council lauded Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Officer-in-Charge Gregorio Catapang for his decision to remove concrete walls that were built on roads inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Reservation in Poblacion, Muntinlupa.
“I would like to express my appreciation to the Officer-in-Charge of the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor ), Retired General Gregorio Catapang for ordering the removal of the concrete walls, which later became ‘control gates,’ along three roads within the National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) Reservation,” said Councilor Raul Corro, who previously served as the chief of the Muntinlupa City government’s Office of the City Attorney.
Corro said the walls “prevented thousands of residents of NHA Southville 3, Type B and Katarungan Village 1 and 2 as well as thousands of students from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa and Muntinlupa National High School from going to and from the City Proper in Poblacion.”
In March 2021, BuCor first built a wall on the Insular Prison Road in NBP Reservation that was being used by residents of Southville 3 housing project to go to the city proper.
A second wall was built by BuCor on a road leading to the Type B area in NBP Reservation in June 2021.
In November 2021, BuCor erected another wall on a road leading to the Katarungan Village, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, and Muntinlupa National High School.
Corro said the road closures were done “without prior consultation or coordination with the local government of Muntinlupa or Barangay Poblacion.”
“While our City Government has established a very cordial and healthy relations with Bucor over the past several decades, the last Bucor administration was an exception for its implementation of controversial policies that seriously affected the welfare of our fellow Muntinlupeños living in and around the reservation,” he said.
He added, “This led the City Council to declare Director-General Gerard Bantag as ‘Persona Non Grata’ in the City of Muntinlupa.”
“For the new BuCor administration, the move to remove the road blockades is a step in the right direction and restores the good relations of the City Government of Muntinlupa with BuCor which has existed for several decades since the national penitentiary was established in the 1940s,” said Corro.
According to him, “Whenever there is an issue or project or program or even any activity that involves both the national and local governments, the law requires prior consultation and coordination. The logic behind this legal requirement is clear: to ensure that both governments move in the same direction, avoid duplication and waste of resources and achieve a common goal of protecting and serving our people.”
“We need to learn from this BuCor experience and ensure that what the previous administration has done does not happen again in the future. We just need to consult and coordinate, sit down and talk and discuss common interests and concerns that will mutually benefit both parties, all for the promotion of the general welfare,” said Corro.
He said, “Both BuCor and the City Government of Muntinlupa have their respective mandates. BuCor for the rehabilitation and reformation of its inmates and CGM for the protection and promotion of the welfare of its constituents.These are not opposite mandates. We can work together, assist each other, join forces together. After all, keeping the NBP Reservation secure is not just the concern of Bucor. It is as much a concern of the CGM. We all want a peaceful and orderly city and a secure NBP Reservation benefits everyone not just BuCor.”
“To our OIC Director-General Gregorio Catapang, let's continue with our coordination and prior consultation and our work in government will be made much easier and less stressful if we take time to sit and discuss matters of mutual and common interest for the benefit of our respective constituents,” he added.