Life after prison

For all of De Lima’s expressions of shock and disgust, it is rather bewildering why no cases were filed against those allegedly caught with these illegal stuff smuggled into Bilibid.

The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) has restored the visitation rights of inmates detained at its maximum security compound. This was announced the other day by NBP Superintendent Richard Schwarzkopf Jr. The visiting hours were set from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Thursday to Sunday.

However, the NBP chief stressed the visitation right is exclusive to family members. Visitation privileges at the maximum security compound at the NBP were suspended by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima after a grenade explosion killed an inmate and wounded 19 others last Jan. 8.

Affected by the DOJ chief’s decision, protest rallies and vigils were held in front of the NBP in Muntinlupa City by wives and families of inmates to demand the restoration of their visitation rights.

This came after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) tasked to look into the incident bared the findings and final report on the grenade attack. According to the NBI report, the target of the grenade attack was Jaybee Sebastian, a convicted drug lord leading one of the gangs at NBP. He, however, was unhurt in the explosion.

Sebastian allegedly earned the ire of his “kakosa” when they saw his being excluded from the series of DOJ-NBI raids conducted at the national penitentiary. The surprise raids checked on the reported “special” treatment being given to moneyed and influential inmates who were allowed to stay in “kubol” or apartment-like facilities at the maximum security compound.

It turned out Sebastian owns the biggest kubol in Bilibid and even had a concert last year held inside NBP. Sebastian allegedly ordered all drug peddlers in the state penitentiary not to remit their earnings to a fellow maximum security inmate, convicted drug lord Tony Co. Sebastian is one of Co’s alleged competitors in the lucrative drug trade thriving ironically right inside the national penitentiary.

The NBI tagged Co and five other inmates in the explosion and subsequently charged them with murder and frustrated murder cases.

After De Lima herself led the raid last Dec. 15 at the NBP, 19 convicted drug lords were transferred to the NBI Detention Center along Taft Avenue. Co is one of them. They continue to be held in a special cell, deprived of visits by their respective families while their lawyers filed petitions to the court to complain about alleged violations of their rights.

Ostensibly, the raid was to ferret out contraband and luxurious items from mobile phones to air-conditioning units and other appliances being used by certain favored inmates in connivance with corrupt NBP officials. De Lima expressed shock and castigated officials concerned for what she labeled a brazen violation of prison rules and regulations.  

De Lima relieved NBP chief Roberto Rabo from his post and designated Schwarzkopf as new NBP chief. Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Franklin Bucayu was spared from De Lima’s wrath. The NBP is supervised by the BuCor as an attached agency of the DOJ.

What raised a lot of eyebrows among those in the know, however, is why these raids came almost five years after De Lima assumed office as Justice Secretary. Observers say that the existence of kubols and the use of gadgets and luxury amenities by privileged inmates have been going on at NBP since time immemorial.

For all of De Lima’s expressions of shock and disgust, it is rather bewildering why no cases were filed against those allegedly caught with these illegal stuff smuggled into Bilibid.   

Other than the new illegal drugs case filed against Co before the DOJ, no cases have been filed against other inmates or any NBP officials investigated almost three months after these raids.

We have received disturbing reports Sebastian remains a fair-haired boy inside the NBP, still able to use all “perks” from cellphones to internet and cable television.

Speaking of cellphones, our same sources claimed Chinese inmates, some of whom still have pending appeals before the Supreme Court, are now the milking cows of “extortion” activities. Unnamed unscrupulous NBI personnel allegedly make these Chinese inmates cough up certain amounts of money for the use of a mobile phone inside their NBI detention.

Clearly, there is more to the raid than meets the eye, since De Lima continues to flout several laws on visitation and insists on keeping the 19 inmates segregated while petitions for amparo, habeas corpus and Ombudsman cases are pending against key NBI personnel.

As I gathered, a new structure is being put up at the NBP maximum security. The DOJ chief is just awaiting completion of this new facility where the 19 inmates will be eventually brought back to serve their jail term at the NBP.

Meanwhile, Schwarzkopf said activities of inmates at the nine-hectare prison facility have returned to normal.

He noted leaders of several gangs at the maximum security compound are now cooperating with him to help in the enforcement of jail regulations.

Yesterday, they had no less than Department of Education (DepEd) Sec. Br. Armin Luistro who visited them at the NBP compound to lead the graduation rites of 542 inmates who completed vocational education while in jail.

This year’s batch was done under the program partnership of BuCor with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). It is part of the rehabilitation program of Bucor for inmates to provide them with the basic tools of livelihood once freed from jail and return to mainstream society as law-abiding citizens.

According to Schwarzkopf, Luistro was invited to the graduation rites for future partnership with DepEd’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) program to help inmates classified as illiterate to learn to read and write.

Inmates whose ages range from 30 to 60 years old can go to classes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside the prison community.

Under this program, Schwarzkopf explained, inmates can enroll to pursue their education, or train for vocational skills they could use for gainful employment, or put up their own livelihood for their reintegration back to mainstream society.

Armed with education acquired through this program, they can look forward to a life after prison and become productive members of society, leaving their past criminal lives behind bars locked up forever.