Palace slams rape try on girl in Bilibid

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang deplored yesterday the rape attempt on an eight-year-old girl in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) on New Year’s Day, warning inmates of stiffer penalties for crimes committed while in the penitentiary.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said inmates “will still have to undergo trial for any crime” they commit while in prison.

She said it would not be accurate to conclude there were no more safe places in the country because of the incident.

“We did get that particular report and that incident involving the eight-year-old is nothing short of deplorable. We are confident that the justice secretary (Leila de Lima) is already taking measures to stop any and all possible criminal acts (in) the penitentiary,” Valte said.

She also said officials of the NBP were now under close watch and supervision by De Lima, who personally supervised the investigation of the case.

The girl was found in the bathroom of a chapel in the maximum security compound strangled and the suspect in the case is her father’s fellow inmate. The girl had gone to the NBP with her family to visit her father.

According to De Lima, the National Bureau of Investigation is expected to finish its probe of the irregularities at the NBP by the first quarter of 2015.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also ordered a separate investigation on the officials of the Bureau of Corrections, who are in charge of the country’s prisons.

During the first raid of the NBP, police commandos found illegal drugs, cash, sex toys, a jacuzzi, guns and Rolex watches in the villas of high-profile inmates.

More hidden rooms, a martial arts gym, illegal sex enhancers and expensive appliances were discovered when the NBI raiding team struck anew.

Prison guards again allegedly tried to mislead the raiding teams, who had to use battering rams and halligan bars to knock down wooden walls that hid contraband and a martial arts gym in inmate Hans Chua’s kubol or villa. 

Other hidden rooms yielded split-type air conditioning units, permits to carry firearms and documents identifying who among the NBP officials allowed the contraband in.

De Lima said President Aquino was particularly alarmed by reports that illegal firearms got into the penitentiary and would like authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.