ANTI-DRUG WAR IN PRISONS. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Moro Virgilio Lazo (starting from left), Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo de Lemos and NICA Assistant Director General for Counter Intelligence Rolando Asuncion sign a memorandum of agreement for an inter-agency Operations Center at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City on Oct. 10, 2023. The operations center, which was inaugurated Monday (April 15, 2024), aims to strengthen the campaign against illegal drugs that continue to plague penal facilities nationwide. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
MANILA – The campaign against illegal drugs that continue to plague penal facilities will be strengthened with the establishment of an inter-agency Operations Center inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), the Bureau of Corrections said Monday.
“The office and barracks for the inter-agency collaborative groups will pave the way for the synchronization of an anti-illegal drug campaign in and out of the state prison and penal farms,” BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said in a statement following the center’s inauguration.
The Operations Center was established under the Memorandum of Agreement earlier signed by BuCor with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The operations center would concentrate on intelligence gathering, monitoring, and taking action to prevent drug-related activities inside the NBP and other prison facilities and penal farms.
“We are all set now to work together with the common goal of solving illicit drug activities and financially disable those behind it, and paralyze them from further engaging in the trafficking of illegal drugs,” Catapang said.
The BuCor chief noted that 70 to 80 percent of the more than 52,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) nationwide are in prison due to drug-related cases.
Despite the stringent measures in place, prison officials continuously encounter entry of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals (CPECs), and drug paraphernalia in its prison facilities.
“Thus, the need for collaboration with other government agencies as a vital approach in resolving the complex issues of drug use and trafficking in BuCor facilities,” Catapang said.
"This cooperation and close coordination among agencies is also in line with the guidance of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to fight illegal drugs in Bucor, and to comply with Congress and Senate’s recommendations to stop illegal drugs activities in BuCor.” (PNA)
