Biometric system set up to boost security at Ampatuan massacre trial venue

To further discourage inmates inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City from planning an escape, a biometric system has been installed to enhance the facility's security. Senior Inspector Edgar Camus, warden at the Quezon City Jail Annex inside the camp, said the newly installed Electronic ID System also covered the Special Intensive Care Area. Camus said the new policy was an initiative of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, who issued a "verbal order" last May 28 to intensify security measures in all jail facilities in the country. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which supervises the QC Jail Annex, is under the Department of Interior and Local Government. The biometric system helps monitor people going in and out of the jail facilities, Camus said. The jail warden recounted an incident in 2008 when two inmates succeeded in escaping from detention after they disguised themselves as women clad in traditional Muslim garment "abaya cloak." "Kahit sino pa mag-disguise papunta o palabas dito ngayon, hindi na sila makakatakas sa amin," Camus told reporters at the sidelines of Wednesday's Ampatuan massacre trial, which is being held inside a makeshift court room at the QC Jail Annex. Under the new system, inmates, jail officials, and visitors – including visiting family members, lawyers, and even the media – will have to register into a computer database all their basic information, photograph, and fingerprints. Members of the defense and prosecution panel, as well as court employees and members of the media, for the first time, got a taste of the new policy on Wednesday. Prosecution lawyer Nena Santos and Khadafeh Mangudadatu, brother of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, both welcomed the new security system. "Mas maganda ito! Hassle-free kasi mapapadali na ang pag-register dito sa loob," Mangudadatu exclaimed immediately after having his fingerprints taken. Prior to the implementation of the biometric system, people entering the jail facility had to undergo the tedious process of logging in their names in a log book, leaving their valid identification (ID) card at the gate, and wearing a QC Jail Annex-issued ID while inside the premises. Meanwhile, some reporters and court employees frowned at the new policy, saying it could eventually have implications on a person's right to privacy. Aside from around 90 suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case, other inmates detained inside the QC Jail Annex include suspected terrorists and members of organized crime groups in the country. — LBG, GMA News