MANILA (UCAN): “We will increase our presence by assigning more missionaries to prisons… their programmes would hopefully decrease the involvement of prisoners in illegal drugs,” Bishop Joel Baylon of Legazpi, chairperson of the prison ministry of the The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said on March 9, following confirmed reports of drug trade inside the country’s jails.
Bishop Baylon pointed to the Jesuit-run livelihood programme in the country’s biggest prison facility in Muntinlupa City where prisoners are taught how to make crosses and soap.
“That keeps them busy. If they earn [money] from inside, they’d rather devote their time to it than to drugs,” the bishop added.
More than 500 prisoners were tested in a correctional facility in Davao province in the Mindanao region, while 200 more were subjected to mandatory drug testing in Cebu City in the Visayas, on March 7.
The results are yet to be released by the prison authorities.
That keeps them busy. If they earn [money] from inside, they’d rather devote their time to it than to drugs
Bishop Baylon
Davao province correction inspector, Rogelio Carumay, said they are investigating several prison guards who allegedly received kilos of illegal drugs from a prison facility in the province.
“Now, it’s the other way around… The prisoners manufacture [illegal] drugs. Their guards distribute them and we have received reports of this incident here,” Carumay said.
Carumay cited the increase in dismissals of police officers from service due to their involvement in illegal drugs.
From July 2016 to May 2022, 720 police officers were axed due to their involvement in illegal drugs. Of these, 530 tested positive for taking illegal drugs while more than 200 were protectors of drug syndicates, according to the state-run Philippine Information Agency.
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“The [anti-] drug war is not only in the streets but inside our prison facilities. Our very own policemen and prison guards are addicted to it,” Carumay added.
The mandatory drug test was in response to a assertion by the Philippine Bureau of Corrections that more uniformed personnel are linked to the illegal drug trade within the four walls of the prison.
The [anti-] drug war is not only in the streets but inside our prison facilities. Our very own policemen and prison guards are addicted to it,
Rogelio Carumay
In November 2022, newly appointed correction chief, General Gregorio Catapang, found kilos of cocaine during a surprise visit to a prison in Manila. He vowed to put all prison facilities under a mandatory drug test.
Inmates later claimed that the contraband was sold outside the facility, using prison personnel as peddlers.
Families of inmates who are drug addicts admitted prison personnel knew about the illegal activity in penitentiaries but kept their mouths shut.
“I saw once [saw the] cooking utensil which my husband said they would use to cook cocaine. I told him it’s dangerous but he said the authorities gave their blessing,” the wife of an inmate, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted.
The son of a drug suspect revealed that prison guards received commissions.
“Yes, there are commissions. So, the bigger the sale, the bigger the commission. No one dared to question it because our own loved ones would fear for their lives,” he said on condition of anonymity.
When he assumed office in 2016, former president, Rodrigo Duterte, started a “war on drugs.” However, instead of yielding positive results, it turned out to be a disaster, claiming the lives of more than 12,000 Filipinos, according to Human Rights Watch.
