(Eagle News)–Senator Leila de Lima has expressed opposition to a proposal to transfer the New Bilibid Prison to an isolated facility similar to the Alcatraz, a maximum security federal prison in the United States.
In a statement, De Lima said such a move will “not only hamper the rehabilitation of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) but will also tolerate the violations of their rights.”
“Those who advocate for the transfer of NBP to an ‘isolated place,’ an ‘Alcatraz-like’ facility, among whom are Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and BuCor Director-General Gerard Bantag, are of jurassic minds,” she said.
According to De Lima, transferring the inmates and isolating them “would make them more hardened, hence, non-reformable.”
“The concept of restorative justice is totally alien to these bull-minded law enforcers. Human rights, to them, are a trash idea. The Duterte psyche. Shame!” she added.
Eleazar and Bantag made the proposal after reports of rampant corruption involving some unscrupulous BuCor personnel and inmates, who pay their way to get contraband and luxuries even while inside the prison.
Eleazar had said the government was seriously considering the idea.
