JUSTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra has directed newly installed Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Nicanor E. Faeldon to put an end to illegal-drug activities inside the country’s penitentiaries.
Guevarra issued the order after Faeldon finally took his oath before the Department of Justice (DOJ) chief and officially assumed the post after more than a month in limbo due to lack of an official appointment from the Palace.
Faeldon replaced retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa, who vacated the post to pursue his senatorial bid in the May 2019 elections.
Aside from addressing the illegal-drug problems, DOJ Undersecretary and Spokesman Mark Perete said Faeldon was told to focus on two other important tasks as BuCor chief, which include finding solutions to the congestion and security problems of prisoners, as well as looking into the possibility of transferring facilities of the BuCor elsewhere.
It can be recalled that during his term, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II tapped members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) to halt the illegal-drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, which currently houses around 27,000 inmates.
Signal jammers were also installed to prevent the inmates involved in these illegal activities from communicating with their cohorts outside.
Perete said the maximum-security facility housing high-profile inmates such as those convicted for drug trafficking would stay at the NBP.
He said Faeldon was asked to check on the possibility of transferring other prison facilities to other locations to address congestion and security problems.
It will be recalled that the previous BuCor leadership pressed for the construction of a new building to house the prison facility in Fort Magsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija, that could eventually replace the NBP as the country’s main prison facility.
But the project has been temporarily put on hold due to legal issues raised by private claimants in both the current NBP land in Muntinlupa and the property in Fort Magsaysay.
Aside from the NBP, Faeldon has supervision over the Abuyog Penal Colony in Leyte, Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro; San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City; and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm.