MANILA, Philippines — The plan to develop the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) facility worries not only the inmates but also the longtime residents living within its grounds because of looming displacement.
The political prisoners’ support group KAPATID urged Congress to investigate the plans to commercialize the facility as receiving reports that some residents got three eviction notices and that hearings were underway. The group called on lawmakers to include affected communities in its proposed legislative inquiry.
KAPATID launched its “Protect Bilibid Lands” campaign, calling for the preservation of the entire NBP reservation as a permanent national correctional center and an immediate halt to plans to close the facility by 2028 and convert its grounds into commercial real estate.
The group urged both chambers of Congress to investigate Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr.’s reported moves to commercialize 366.7 hectares of public land identified under Proclamation No. 1159.
The area is 52.79% larger than the 240-hectare Bonifacio Global City and is projected to generate ?1 billion to ?2 billion in annual lease revenues.
Fides Lim, KAPATID spokesperson, said “Protect Bilibid Lands” means protecting 366.7 hectares of public land to be transformed into a modern, humanized center for custody, legal aid and reformation.
“Amid widespread corruption scandals and the lack of accountability, a congressional inquiry is urgently needed to compel full transparency since mass transfers are being used as a pretext for decongestion to empty prime public land for commercial profit,” Lim said.
Prisoner access to families at stake
KAPATID argued that retaining NBP as a national correctional center is necessary to keep prisoners near their families and support rehabilitation.
Citing BuCor data, the group said 12,878 of the 21,129 persons deprived of liberty at NBP, or nearly 61%, came from the National Capital Region, CALABARZON and Central Luzon.
NCR accounted for 5,998 prisoners, or 28.39% of the population, followed by CALABARZON with 4,199, or 19.87%, and Central Luzon with 2,681, or 12.69%. Including Bicol’s 2,028 prisoners, 14,906 persons deprived of liberty, or 70.55% of the total, came from these four contiguous Luzon regions.
“Retaining NBP ensures that 6 out of every 10 inmates remain near their families for regular visitations, which are clinically proven to improve mental health and rehabilitation success,” Lim said.
She cited Rule 59 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, which calls for prisoners to be allocated to facilities close to their homes or places of social rehabilitation.
KAPATID warned that transferring prisoners to remote penal colonies would increase travel expenses for low-income families and weaken the family support networks needed during rehabilitation.
The group also cautioned that mass transfers could merely shift overcrowding to other facilities. It cited occupancy rates of 541% at Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, 504% at Leyte Regional Prison and 399% at San Ramon Prison in Zamboanga City.
KAPATID further noted 6,538 prisoner deaths across BuCor facilities from 2020 through 2025, warning that separating vulnerable prisoners from their families could worsen the prison health crisis.
Calls for broader reforms
The group said the proposed commercialization must be assessed against Republic Act No. 10575, or the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, which establishes BuCor’s responsibilities for the safekeeping and reformation of national prisoners and provides for standard correctional facilities, including hospitals and visiting areas.
KAPATID maintained that decongestion should address systemic problems in the criminal justice system rather than rely on prisoner transfers to distant penal colonies.
Lim emphasized that real decongestion requires judicial efficiency and structural reforms, including clearing administrative backlogs that force prisoners who have fully served their sentences to resort to costly habeas corpus petitions for release, releasing elderly and very ill prisoners on humanitarian grounds and ending the drug war that fuels extreme prison overcrowding.
The campaign builds on a petition submitted to the Department of Justice on July 24, signed by 45 political prisoners at NBP, including 12 senior citizens and 18 people with medical conditions. (davaotoday.com)
