DoJ sending heinous convicts to island, camp prisons
Heinous criminals will be transferred to a military camp-based or island prison to be built in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao under a law establishing such penal facilities.
Daily TribuneHeinous criminals will be transferred to a military camp-based or island prison to be built in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao under a law establishing such penal facilities.
The facilities will be "built in a suitable location away from the general population and other PDLs, and preferably within a military establishment or on an island separate from the mainland" and "located in a secured and isolate place to ensure that there is no unwarranted contact or communication from outside of the penal institution," Department of Justice spokesperson Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV said, citing the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 11928 or the Separate Facility for Heinous Crimes Act.
One such facility will be built in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, he added.
The separate facilities for heinous crimes convicts will be "state-of-the-art facilities with surveillance cameras and the latest information technology and security systems capable of monitoring persons deprived of liberty 24 hours a day, and with enhanced and extensive security features on locks, doors, and its perimeters, according to Clavano IV, citing the IRR.
Clavano IV said that once built, the transfer of the inmates should be enforced "within a period of thirty days from the completion of the construction of the heinous crimes facility."
Heinous crimes in the country "include treason, piracy and mutiny on the high seas in Philippine waters, qualified piracy, qualified bribery, parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, destructive arson and rape."
"Each facility shall have separate buildings for male and female PDLs. A separate dormitory shall likewise be provided for PDLs who are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender community," he said.
There would be "regular random drug testing among the PDLs convicted of heinous crimes in the facility," Clavano IV said.
"Provisions for solar, biogas, rainwater harvesting, and the like shall be included in the design and construction of the facility to facilitate self-sustainability, in compliance with RA 10575 (Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013) and other existing laws, orders, rules and regulations," Clavano IV added.
He emphasized that the Bureau of Corrections will ensure that inmates shall be allowed "to communicate with their relatives and legal counsels, both by receiving visits and by means of alternative modes of communication such as through phone, video or correspondence, in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and other relevant international standards."
Clavano said, "the facility shall be equipped with effective and efficient Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and a software system that follows generally accepted standard for the digitization of all information necessary to be used in the build-up, maintenance and transmittal of necessary PDL records to all the prison and penal farms of the BuCor and other authorized government agencies."