BuCor Director General Catapang to Bilibid's PDLs: 'Surrender all contrabands, or else....'

“Surrender all contrabands.”

This was the ultimatum issued by Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. to all persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

Catapang gave the PDLs until Sunday, Aug. 13, to surrender all contrabands otherwise daily Greyhound (Galugad or search) operations will be conducted.

In a statement, BuCor said that Catapang issued the ultimatum after a group of PDLs surrendered a hand grenade, three pieces of improvised shotgun (sumpak), three pieces of shotgun cartridges, two grinders with six pieces of discs, two pieces metal pipes, 12 pieces of improvised long bladed weapon, 49 pieces of short bladed weapon, and 18 pieces of ice picks.

BuCor said the PDL who surrendered the grenade claimed that it was obtained long before Catapang assumed office.  The bureau said it will conduct a probe to determine how the grenade got through the inspection at the NBP so adjustments could be made on security inspection.

It said that after Aug. 13, daily Greyhound operations will be conducted “relentlessly leaving no stone unturned.”

A former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), retired general Catapang conceptualized and initiated the “great escape” to safety of Filipino peace keeping forces in Golan Heights in Syria in 2014.

He said he adopted two approaches on contrabands in prison facilities – persuade PDLs to surrender the banned items and surprise Greyhound operations.

In a statement, Catapang said: “I am appealing to other groups inside the national penitentiary to cooperate with us, to come forward and surrender their contrabands because we will be relentless in our efforts. I assure you that it is not just a ‘ningas cogon’ (not consistent), we will not waver until we find those contrabands.”

He warned that PDLs who will cooperate in our reform agenda and will not engage in illegal activities are assured to get out of jail as soon as they serve their minimum sentence.  He warned that “those who will be caught red handed with contrabands after my ultimatum will have to stay longer.”

At the same time, Catapang reminded his bureau subordinates to discharge their duties and responsibilities accordingly as their functions are well defined.

He said: “We all have jobs to do, I will not tolerate incompetence, our outcry of Reform BuCor is not only for PDLs but most especially to our personnel because despite the challenges and the gargantuan problems I inherited, I still believed that good changes in the bureaucracy can still happen.”