Solon wants NBP sale to buy 4 new prisons

MANILA, Philippines - The national government should sellthe New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City to raise enough money to buy four prison facilities, a Quezon province legislator said.

Rep. Aleta Suarez of the 3rd District of Quezon said the new prisons, located in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and National Capital Region, will be capable of handling agriculture-based activities to help reform inmates.

Suarez said her proposal aims to put a reformative instead of a punitive policy regarding the country's facilities.

"The present situation of our penal facilities is a throwback to the 18th century that treated prisoners as animals unfit to renew themselves and rejoin society. It is also a contravention of our treaty obligations such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,"  she added.

In her House Bill 332, or the"Reform of Penal Centers Act", complements Article II, Section ll of the Constitution, which provides "The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights."

She said the proposal is also in line with Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

"According to the Balay Foundation, extreme overcrowding is the most punishing of doing time in the country's jails. At the Manila City Jail and other prisons in the National Capital Region, inmates have to take turns sleeping on the floor. Herding individuals in cramped spaces is cruel, inhuman, ill, degrading, and unjust punishment.

"Overcrowding is dangerous to health and to human life. It breeds diseases, breaks down discipline and exacerbates tension. Add dirty tap water, dingy toilets, substandard meals, gang war, poorly trained guards and prison administrators, favoritism, and you have a system built for punishment, not rehabilitation," Suarez said.

HB 332 provides the State shall enact a Policy of Reformation in all prison facilities in the country.

It mandates the Department of Justice, through the Bureau of Corrections, to sell the facilities and properties of the NBP to the highest possible bidder.