Escape through drone in Bilibid, jail facilities? No chance, says BuCor's Catapang

Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Thursday ruled out the possibility of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) escaping through drones, amid viral posts that a South Korean national planned to escape through such a method.

Catapang issued the statement when asked about the possible use of drones in prison operations, particularly in connection with escape attempts, among others.

“All our Operating Prison and Penal Farms are no-fly zones, and we have watchtowers manned 24/7 which immediately alert our guards if there will be attempts to escape through drones aside from maingay ang drone at equipped naman ang ating facilities ng mga CCTV, so we can detect it at once,” he said.

(All our Operating Prison and Penal Farms are no-fly zones, and we have watchtowers manned 24/7, which immediately alert our guards if there are attempts to escape through drones. Aside from drones being noisy, our facilities are also equipped with CCTV, so we can detect it at once.)

He added that drones cannot operate near the correctional facilities without attracting the attention of prison personnel and security systems.

Meanwhile, he also said that various CCTV cameras throughout correctional facilities allow personnel to monitor prison grounds.

South Korean media reported that Park Wang-yeol planned to escape from prison a month before his extradition in March. However, it reported that his plan fell through.

Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Ian Norman Dato said that Parks has been extradited and is now under the custody of the Korean government.

Dato also said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is confident that BuCor is fully equipped to prevent such incidents.

“The DOJ is confident that our BuCor is fully equipped and prepared to prevent any such eventuality,” he said. —AOL, GMA News