New Bilibid Prison

New Bilibid Prison

Façade of the current New Bilid Prison.
Location Muntinlupa, Philippines
Status Operational
Security class Maximum security[1]
Capacity 17,719[2]
Population 36,295[2]
Opened 1940
Managed by Bureau of Corrections
City Muntinlupa
Country Philippines
Old Bilibid Prison c. 1900

The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Philippines, is the main insular penitentiary designed to house the prison population of the Philippines.[1] It is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the Department of Justice. As of October 2004, it has an inmate population of 16,747.[3] The penitentiary had an initial land area of 551 hectares. One hundred four hectares of the facility were transferred to a housing project of the Department of Justice.[3] The Bureau of Corrections has its headquarters in the NBP Reservation.[4]

The Government plans to create a regional prison on Nueva Ecija through Public-Private Partnership.[5][6]

History

The Old Bilibid Prison, then known as Carcel y Presidio Correccional[1] (Spanish, "Correctional Jail and Military Prison") occupied a rectangular piece of land that was part of the Mayhalique Estate in the heart of Manila. The old prison was established by the Spanish colonial government on 25 June 1865 via royal decree.[3] It is divided into two sections: the Carcel, which could accommodate 600 inmates; and the Presidio, which could hold 527 prisoners.

Due to increasing crime, the Philippine Government enacted Commonwealth Act No. 67[1] and a new prison was built in Muntinlupa on 551 hectares[3] of land at an area considered at that time to be "remote". Construction began in 1936 with a budget of one million pesos.[1] In 1940, the prisoners, equipment and facilities were transferred to the new prison. The remnants of the old facility was used by the City of Manila as its detention center then known as Manila City Jail. In 1941, the new facility was officially named "The New Bilibid Prison".

On June 5, 2014, Department of Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, supervising official on the Bureau of Corrections and the NBP said that the National Penitentiary will be moved to Barangay San Isidro in Laur, Nueva Ecija.[7][8]

World War II

During World War II and the occupation of the Philippines by Japan, New Bilibid Prison was a Prisoner of War (POW) camp, hospital for POWs, and transit center for POWs being transferred to other locations, primarily to Japan. More than 13,000 POWs, the great majority of them American, were processed at Bilibid during World War II.[9] Included in that total were 500 civilian internees who were moved to Bilibid from the Camp Holmes Internment Camp near Baguio in December 1944.[10] Thousands of POWs who transited Bilibid Prison enroute to Japan were killed when the Hell ships on which they were being transported were sunk by American military aircraft or submarines, the Americans being unaware that POWs were on board the ships.[11]

The Battle of Manila began on February 3, 1945 and that evening the American civilians in Bilibid Prison heard the unmistakable sound of American voices outside the walls. The American soldiers outside, however, seemed unaware of the prisoners inside Bilibid, but had the objective of liberating the 4,000 civilian internees at Santo Tomas Internment Camp two kilometers (one mile) distant. The battle near the prison raged all that night, but the next morning the Japanese guards abandoned Bilibid leaving a message to the POWs and internees that they should avoid leaving Bilibid and posting a sign at the gate advising "Lawfully released Prisoners of War and internees are quartered here." The internees lofted an American flag over Bilibid, but after an explosion nearby the departing Japanese came back to warn them that the flag would draw fire from Japanese artillery.[12] At 7 p.m. that evening, American soldiers from the 37th Ohio National Guard broke through the wall into the compound.[13]

The liberated POWs and internees at Bilibid numbered 1,200, including 700 soldiers and 500 civilians. The civilian internees remained in Bilibid for another month until the Battle of Manila concluded with the Japanese defenders wiped out.[14] The internees were then flown to Leyte and from there they were repatriated to the United States. One of the civilian internees described the repatriation process as "being badgered by friends rather than the enemy." The former internees were infuriated at having to promise to pay the U.S. government $275 per person for repatriation. Many of the civilian internees, long-term residents, were reluctant to leave the Philippines.[15]

Recreation and facilities

The prisoners pass the time in the basketball court in the penitentiary's gymnasium and are also engaged in the production of handicrafts. Various religious denominations are active in the prison, with masses said daily in the prison's Catholic chapel. These religious groups, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Amazing Grace Christian ministries, Philippine Jesuit Prison Service and Caritas Manila, also extend medical services to prisoners.[16]

Educational facilities inside the compound provide elementary education, high school education, vocational training and adult literacy programs. It also provides a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.[16] The New Bilibid Prison also houses a talipapa (market) where the prisoners can buy commodities.[17]

Katarungan Village

On 5 September 1991, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation No. 792, which was amended by Presidential Proclamation No. 120 on 15 December 1992, to the effect that 104.22 hectares of land be developed into housing for employees of the Department of Justice and other government agencies. This housing project is known as the Katarungan ("Justice") Village.[18]

Notable inmates

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Corrections in the Philippines". Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  2. 1 2 Tan, Kimberly Jane (29 August 2012). "Drilon proposes selling New Bilibid, calls for regional prisons system". GMA News. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "DID YOU KNOW: New Bilibid Prisons". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  4. ↑ "About the Bureau of Corrections." Bureau of Corrections. Retrieved on October 2, 2010. "Bureau of Corrections NBP Reservation Muntinlupa City, Philippines."
  5. ↑ "http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/656899/new-p50-b-prison-to-rise-in-nueva-ecija | publisher=Inquirer.net | accessdate=20 Dec 2014
  6. ↑ "http://www.mb.com.ph/after-one-in-nueva-ecija-govt-plans-modern-prisons-in-visayas-mindanao/ | publisher=ManilaBulletin | accessdate=20 Mar 2015
  7. ↑ "DOJ to transfer Bilibid to Nueva Ecija". philstar.com.
  8. ↑ "Manila Standard - Google News Archive Search".
  9. ↑ "Notes" http://www.west-point-or/family/japanese-pow/HudsonFastNotes.htm, accessed 27 Apr 2016
  10. ↑ Mansell, Donald E. (2003), Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun, Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, pp. 216-217, 22-249
  11. ↑ Gladwin, Lee A. (2003), "American POWs on Japanese Ships Take a Voyate into Hell"; Prologue Magazine, Vo. 35, No. 4, http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/hell-ships-1.html, accessed 28 April 2016
  12. ↑ Miles, Fern Harrington (1987), Captive Community: Life in a Japanese Internment Camp, 1941-1945, Jefferson City, TN: Mossy Creek Press, pp. 162-163
  13. ↑ Mansell, pp. 251-254
  14. ↑ "Internment Camp #3, Baguio and Bilibid Prison" http://bacepow.net/bilibid.ht, accessed 28 Apr 2016
  15. ↑ Crouter, Natalie (1980), Forbidden Diary: A Record of Wartime Internment, 1941-1945, New York: Burt Franklin & Co., pp. 502-503
  16. 1 2 Liwag, Ramon J. "Community Involvement in the Rehabilitation and Treatment of Offenders" (PDF). United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. mabaho ang mga guard dito(UNAFEI). Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  17. ↑ Hicap, Jonathan M. (2007-10-01). "New Bilibid to be like alien planet to Erap". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  18. ↑ "Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council". Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  19. ↑ Caruncho, Eric S. (2007-11-18). "The blood of a poet". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  20. ↑ Seno, Alexandra A. (1996). A Wedding Behind Bars. The Asiaweek Website, retrieved July 29, 2010
  21. ↑ Vanzi, Sol Jose (1998-04-08) Robin Padilla Is Free. The Newsflash Website, retrieved July 29, 2010
  22. ↑ Pangalangan, Raul (2007-08-03). "PASSION FOR REASON: Jovito Salonga as Magsaysay laureate". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  23. ↑ "Claudio Teehankee Court Decision". Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  24. ↑ Hicap, Jonathan M. (2005-01-17). "Hubert’s main defense: ‘I was in California’". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  25. ↑ "SC acquits Hubert Webb, 6 others in Vizconde massacre". GMA News Online.
  26. ↑ Guy, George F. "The Defense of General Yamashita". Archived from the original on 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  27. 1 2 Taruc, L., 1967, He Who Rides the Tiger, London: Geoffrey Chapman Ltd.
  28. ↑ Jay Taylor (1976). China and Southeast Asia: Peking's relations with revolutionary movements. Praeger. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-275-56830-6.

External links

Coordinates: 14°22′53.89″N 121°01′46.05″E / 14.3816361°N 121.0294583°E / 14.3816361; 121.0294583

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