BuCor sets transfer of 10,000 Bilibid's PDLs to other prison facilities this year
About 10,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City are eyed for transfer this year to other prison facilities in the country, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said on Thursday, Feb. 12.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. told journalists that the PDLs will be transferred to prison facilities near their known provincial addresses.
Aside from NBP, the BuCor’s other prison facilities outside Metro Manila are the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm (IPPF) in Palawan, the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro, the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm (SRPPF) in Zamboanga City, the Davao Prison Penal Farm (DPPF) and the Leyte Regional Prison (LRP).
The transfer of PDLs is being done in preparation for NBP’s closure and its conversion into a government center by 2028, the BuCor said.
Currently, there are more than 22,000 PDLs confined at the NBP.
“So, by 2028, sarado na po ‘yung Muntinlupa (by 2028 the Bilibid will be closed) and then it will be repurposed for government center, housing and, of course, commercial purposes,” Catapang said.
Catapang visited the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, Feb. 12, to update Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida on the activities of the BuCor including preparations for the closure of the NBP.