Robin Padilla ‘happy’ to be back in Bilibid but laments overcrowding

Senator Robin Padilla on Tuesday said he was "happy" to be back at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), which he called his “home” for three and a half years, but he lamented the overcrowding inside the national penitentiary.

“Masaya [ako] at malungkot. Masaya ako ang dati kong bahay. Malungkot ako kasi overcrowded. Sobra. Pumuputok na yung tao. Kawawa ‘yung mga bilanggo,” Padilla said in a short interview with GMA News Online after their inspection inside the NBP maximum security compound.

In his opening statement during the Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee investigation into the alleged buried bodies inside the NBP’s septic tank, Padilla said he found his life and peace inside the national penitentiary.

The senator added that recent events at the NBP differed from his experiences at the national penitentiary.

“Hindi ko po manamnam ang mga bagay na nababalitaan ko ngayon. Medyo malayo ito sa nakita ko noon. Kasi noon talagang gusto naming magbago,” he said.

In 1994, Padilla was imprisoned at the NBP after he was convicted for illegal possession of firearms.

The actor-turned-lawmaker was given a conditional pardon by the late former President Fidel Ramos and was granted an absolute pardon by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa also returned to his former office at the Bureau of Corrections, saying it was much cleaner compared to his time as BuCor chief.

Among the facilities that the senators inspected were the maximum security compound’s mess hall, kitchen, and the location of the septic tanks.

Even the makeshift houses were more organized today, Dela Rosa said.

Like Padilla, Dela Rosa lamented the congestion inside the NBP.

“Tino-tolerate natin [ang mga kubol] kasi kawawa nga walang matirahan. Hindi naman pwedeng puro ka na lang istrikto, istrikto dito. Mga tao yan eh. Kailangan pangalagaan yung kanilang pangangailangan. Basic need ng tao yan e. ‘Yung tulugan,” he told GMA News Online.

But during his time, Dela Rosa said, there were no reports of missing persons deprived of liberty.

Padilla, Dela Rosa, and Senator Francis Tolentino inspected the NBP maximum security compound after the Justice and Human Rights Committee conducted its first hearing into the alleged mass grave inside the national penitentiary at the BuCor headquarters in Muntinlupa City. — DVM, GMA Integrated News