Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre yesterday denied accusations that members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) have been using excessive force on inmates of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
“Hindi totoo iyan, paninira lamang iyan sa SAF,” said Aguirre.
“Let’s give the SAF our full thrust and confidence. Mga well disciplined iyan at they belong to the elite police force of the country,” he added.
Wednesday last week, more than 300 SAF members took over security duties as jail guards of the NBP undergo retraining.
However, NBP chaplain Monsignor Roberto Olaguer bared that the inmates have been complaining to him about the use of violence by members of the SAF.
On the other hand, Aguirre believes that the complaints from the inmates only mean that the SAF has been effective in doing its job.
“Mahigpit daw and SAF pero that means what the SAF troopers are doing ay talagang effective kasi nasasaktan sila,” he said.
The Secretary noted that the SAF has been conducting raids of the cells of the inmates under “Oplan Galugad” almost everyday.
During which, he said the SAF confiscated contrabands including almost P1 million in cash, illegal drugs, makeshift weapons, signal boosters, and mobile phones.
“Given a few more days, Bilibid will be cleansed of this contraband,” Aguirre added. (Jeffrey G. Damicog)