DILG to BJMP: Ensure no jailbreaks during holiday season

A day after an inmate escaped from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno on Wednesday ordered the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology(BJMP)  to conduct frequent and regular inspection of all jails nationwide especially during the holidays.

Sueno directed BJMP director Chief Supt. Serafin Barreto to ensure that there will be no jailbreaks.

"The BJMP should not let its guard down, especially now that everyone is busy with their own preparations for Christmas,” Sueno said in a press statement.

Manuel Paril Jr., who was convicted of homicide and frustrated homicide by a Muntinlupa City court, escaped on Tuesday morning by breaking an access door to one of the buildings inside the national penitentiary.

The BJMP is under the supervision of DILG while the NBP is being managed by the Bureau of Corrections which is under the Department of Justice.

Sueno also said there were reports that four alleged drug traffickers tried but failed to punch through their concrete cell using spoons and forks in an attempt to bolt from the police detention facility in South Cotabato.

The detainees who tried to escape are being prosecuted for the large-scale peddling of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu in different barangays in Koronadal City.

The escape try prompted the city police to close the detention facility to visitors for the meantime.

Sueno said BJMP should also strictly enforce jail rules and regulations to all city, district, provincial and municipal jails nationwide.

He said the jail bureau must crackdown specifically on all illegal drugs inside the jail premises.

Under Oplan Greyhound, BJMP personnel search jail cells for contraband such as illegal drugs, weapons, cellphones, and guns. — VVP, GMA News