By Benjamin Pulta | Philippine News Agency
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said Friday that persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) convicted of drug-related offenses throughout the Philippines would be sent to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro as part of government efforts to contain the problem of illegal drugs.
In a news release, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said this is in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to intensify the administration’s “bloodless drug war.”
“Our initiative, guided by Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla and aligned with the campaign of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla to cut off the supply chain of illegal drugs, will be focused, hardened, and robust,” he said.
All individuals involved in drug-related offenses from various operating prisons and penal farms will be relocated to the SPPF, which houses the SuperMax facility, the BuCor said.
About 200 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) will be stationed at the SPPF, it added.
Catapang also mandated that corrections officers assigned to SPPF will undergo weekly rotations to prevent them from becoming too familiar with inmates while all BuCor resources will be redirected to execute the directives of the justice secretary.
According to Catapang, the bureau began relocating high-profile inmates from New Bilibid Prison (NBP) to SPPF as early as July of the previous year.
At present, there are 246 high-profile PDLs convicted of engaging in the illegal drug trade at the SPPF, among them 134 Chinese, seven Hong Kong nationals, 20 Taiwanese, one Canadian, two Iranians, three Koreans, one Nigerian, and 78 Filipinos.
Meanwhile, Catapang has provided the inter-agency task force on the drug war with a detailed list of 5,890 PDLs convicted of drug offenses still held at NBP, aiming for accurate identification of individuals still engaged in the illegal drug trade for prioritized transfers to the SPPF.
He announced that 1,000 PDLs convicted of drug offenses would be moved from the NBP to the Pasugui Sub-Colony in SPPF, with 200 expected to transfer within the week, and an additional 300 scheduled to be relocated before the month’s end.
