Press Release
December 15, 2015

Sen. Marcos Calls For Senate Probe
Of Unabated Smuggling Of Contraband Inside Prisons

Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. has called for a Senate probe into the unabated smuggling of deadly weapons, drugs, luxury items, and other contrabands inside the country's jails. In proposed Senate Resolution No. 1682 filed Monday, Marcos asked the Senate to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation about the country's overall correctional and penitential policy, enforcement, discipline, security measures and weaknesses to improve the same.

Marcos said the series of raids, known as "Oplan Galugad" that the Bureau of Corrections conducted inside the New Bilibid Prison show that the Bureau's primary mandates of "safekeeping" and "reforming" of prisoners are not being strictly adhered to or have been totally abandoned.

"These reports about the 'life' inside the New Bilibid Prisons not only shock the senses, morality and decency of the law-abiding Filipino people but also erode their faith and confidence in the correctional pillar of our criminal justice system," Marcos assessed.

He noted that recent reports of the discovery of more contraband inside the NBP came on the heels of the appalling existence of "kubols" and the VIP treatment of high-profile inmates from 2011 and 2014.

Noting that these illegal activities occurred right under the noses of government's correctional agencies and officers and within the State's primary maximum-security prison, Marcos said it could only happen "either by deliberate complicity or utter neglect."

"These shocking discoveries and revelations prove that there is something fundamentally and terribly wrong with the overall operation of our State's penitentiary system," he stressed.

"These systemic and institutional flaws of the penitentiary system pose a clear and present danger not just to the national justice system but also to national security, "according to Marcos.

Marcos said the continued smuggling of contrabands inside the prisons goes against another principal purpose of the penitentiary system, which is to ensure prisoners are completely incapacitated from further committing criminal acts.

The Senator earlier called for an investigation and filing of criminal charges against any jail officer found in cahoots with prisoners in connection with smuggling of contraband inside the jails.

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