P1.1M contraband seized at Bilibid
MANILA — The Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) personnel have confiscated a total of P1.1 million worth of prohibited items at the New Bilibid Prison since taking over its security posts, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday said.
From July 20 to July 26, the SAF personnel have seized P612,999 in cash, 80 bladed weapons, 12 ice picks, a caliber 38 pistol, six improvised shotguns, 152 mobile phones, 62 phone charges, six sachets of suspected shabu, one plastic of suspected marijuana and 48 television sets in its search operations at the NBP.
Aguirre said the Department of Justice is now studying the possible liabilities of the persons responsible for the proliferation of prohibited items inside the prison.
"Once we have determined their violations, you have our word that we will pursue them, to borrow the words of President (Rodrigo) Duterte, relentlessly. The hammer shall fall and it shall fall mightily. There will be no sacred cows. This is just the first barrage of our war on drugs," Aguirre said at a televised press briefing.
Aguirre noted that the prohibited items might have come from visitors of the inmates who have been allowed to go inside prison cells.
The SAF troopers have been strictly implementing the rules of the prison which temporarily stopped the bringing of prohibited items inside the prison, according to Aguirre.
However, some inmates have been discrediting the SAF, claiming the troopers have been abusing the inmates by physically hurting them, which Aguirre declared as "misinformation."
The DOJ will also reorient NBP personnel as part of its program to eradicate drug-related activities inside the prison. "Our foremost objective is not only to curb but to totally eradicate all drug-related activities at the NBP. If we succeed, we will strike a major blow in the drug trade in the country and that is indeed a big leap in our war on drugs," the DOJ chief said.