Inter-agency council to discuss PHL jail problem

President Benigno Aquino III will convene an inter-agency panel that will discuss the problems besetting the Bureau of Corrections, whose officials are in hot water over the unauthorized "vacation" of former Batangas Gov. Antonio Leviste, a convicted killer. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the meeting will address the "most severe" problems — the congestion of inmates and the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison. Government bodies expected to participate are the Department of Justice and its attached agencies Bureau of Corrections, Board of Pardons, and Parole and Probation Administration; and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and its attached agency, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. The BuCor has administrative supervision of the NBP, where convicted inmates are detained to serve their sentences. The BJMP, on the other hand, handles prison facilities where inmates who are still awaiting their sentences are detained. "I am waiting for the President to talk to me about it. We will discuss the short-term plan with respect to the NBP, in light of the jail congestion problem... Sa jail congestion, there is like a 200-percent excess occupancy," De Lima said. There are about 23,000 inmates housed in NBP's three prison camps: maximum security, medium security, and minimum security. "Live out" and "sleep out" privileges Leviste, who was convicted of homicide in 2009, was sentenced to six to 12 years behind bars. After receiving the guilty verdict, Leviste stayed at NBP's Reception and Diagnostic Center (RDC), the office which evaluates the status of inmates sent to the national penitentiary. In 2010, Leviste was sent to the minimum security compound, where inmates who are 70 years old and above are detained. Those who have one year remaining from their sentences are likewise transferred to the minimum security camp. That same year, Leviste received "living out" privileges because he is a minimum security inmate and "sleep out" privileges because of his "billion trees" planting project. Those living out can roam the NBP compound during daytime as part of BuCor's program to help them reintegrate into society. "Sleep out" inmates, on the other hand, can spend the night in private homes inside the prison compound but away from prison cell at the minimum security compound. Leviste, a recipient of both privileges, is living in his own nipa hut within the sprawling NBP reservation in Muntinlupa City. When he was arrested in Makati City last May 18 for leaving the compound without a permit, Leviste claimed he was to undergo treatment for his toothache. In the interview on Tuesday, De Lima said that the DOJ panel that looked into Leviste's unauthorized trip has recommended the complete removal of the "sleep out" scheme, which does not even exist in the Bureau of Corrections' manual. "Well, it's because the systems are not clear, the practices and policies are not clear, then these become arbitrary and corruption cannot be avoided. Although there is no proof of that [corruption] in the course of proceedings, the facts we gathered would point out there is some corruption here, and that the granting of privileges is selective," said De Lima. Criminal raps vs Leviste's custodian De Lima likewise divulged that the panel has recommended the filing of criminal charges against Leviste's custodian, Fortunato Justo, for his alleged infidelity to his duty as the former governor's guard. "Yes that's the charge, infidelity in the custody of prisoner," De Lima said. Article 223 of the Revised Penal Code provides that "any public officer, who shall consent to the escape of a prisoner in his custody or charge, shall be punished." Article 224, meanwhile, penalizes an officer whose negligence led to the escape or evasion of a prisoner. — KBK, GMA News