A total of 368 policemen from the National Capital Region Police (NCRPO) were deployed to the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) to secure maximum security facilities amid the on-going purge of corrupt prison guards and personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
NCRPO director Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas said the 368 policemen from their Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) will replace the 551 Metro Manila cops who were sent to the NBP a few months ago.
“They will secure the critical areas of New Bilibid Prisons, particularly the maximum security compound,” said Sinas.
During the send-off ceremony on Saturday morning, Sinas emphasized the need for the policemen to follow certain rules that would earn them the respect while detailed at the NBP.
Among them is for the policemen to always observe proper wearing of uniform and for them not to communicate with any inmates.
“The fielded RMFB personnel will be under the management and supervision of the Bureau of Corrections upon entering the BuCor premises, thus, RMFB personnel must act in accordance with BuCor’s policy,” said Sinas.
Part of the policy is the prohibition for the cops to bring in cellular phones and other electronic gadgets and wearing of jewelry.
Earlier, 18 NCRPO personnel were investigated after they were accused of sneaking liquor, cigarettes and communication gadgets inside the NBP. Fourteen of the 18 cops were spared from serious offenses since they just received order from their senior officers.
The 18 policemen, however, were not part of the 551 policemen deployed to secure NBP but those who were tapped to secure the destruction of shanties and other illegal structures inside the NBP.
He said operational shifting would be within 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. only.
“We hope that we do our job well so that we will earn their trust and respect,” Sinas told his men.
The deployment of policemen at the NBP started during the time of then national police chief and now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa through the deployment of police commandos at the maximum security facility where high-profile convicted inmates were detained.
The SAF commandos, however, were retained although some of the high-profile convicted drug lords were already transferred to other facilities such as military camps when they agreed to testify against Sen. Leila de Lima.
This year, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar has requested Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano for the assignment of 551 policemen to the NBP based on the request of newly-installed BuCor Director General Gerardo Bantag who immediately ordered a massive purging of corrupt personnel at the NBP.
Aside from deploying 551 cops to secure NBP, Eleazar also initiated the setting up of the Metro Manila Quad-Intel Force composed of NCRPO, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, National Bureau of Investigation and the military’s Joint Task Force NCR in a bid to spy on convicted drug lords still supervising their respective drug syndicates. (Aaron Recuenco)
