New Bilibid Prison

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 (1,360 acres). One hundred four hectares (260 acres) 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]

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 (1,360 acres)^[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".

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.^[6] Included in that total were 500 civilian internees who were moved to Bilibid from the Camp Holmes Internment Camp near Baguio in December 1944.^[7] Thousands of POWs who transited Bilibid Prison en route 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.^[8]

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.^[9] At 7 p.m. that evening, American soldiers from the 37th Ohio National Guard broke through the wall into the compound.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Post-World War

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.^[13][14]

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.^[15]

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.^[15] The New Bilibid Prison also houses a talipapa (market) where the prisoners can buy commodities.^[16]

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 (257.5 acres) 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.^[17]

Notable inmates

• Amado V. Hernández is a National Artist for Literature who wrote his masterpieces while imprisoned in the facility.^[18]
• Actor Robin Padilla converted to Islam and wed his first wife, Liezl Sicangco, whilst serving a 2-year prison sentence for illegal weapons possession.^[19] He was released in 1998 after having been granted pardon by President Fidel Ramos.^[20]
• Claire Phillips, American spy who was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1951
• Former senator Jovito Salonga was imprisoned by the Kempetai on April 1942, during the onset of the Japanese Occupation in World War II.^[21]
• Claudio Teehankee, Jr., the son of former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee, Sr., who was convicted of murder, homicide and attempted murder on 6 October 1995.^[22]
• Hubert Webb, the son of former senator Freddie Webb, was convicted on 6 January 2000 for his alleged role in the 1991 Vizconde Massacre.^[23] The Supreme Court later acquitted Webb on 14 December 2010.^[24]
• General Tomoyuki Yamashita was the commander of the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines in 1944. He was incarcerated while undergoing trial for war crimes committed during the Japanese Occupation and was eventually executed by hanging in Los Baños, Laguna on 23 February 1946.^[25]
• Luis Taruc, who pleaded guilty to a charge of rebellion in 1954 and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.^{[26]:143–144} He was later sentenced to four life terms for additional crimes.^{[26]:144–147} He was pardoned in 1968 by president Ferdinand Marcos.^[27]

See also

• 2014 New Bilibid Prison raids
• New Bilibid Prison drug trafficking scandal

References

External links

• Images by Gerhard Joren at Getty Images
  • "The lethal injection chamber at New Bilibid Prison." February 24, 2004.
  • "The lethal injection chamber at New Bilibid Prison." February 24, 2004.
  • "Superintendent Venancio Tesoro at the lethal injection chamber at New Bilibid Prison." February 27, 2004.

Corrections in the Philippines
Agencies	Parole and Probation Administration (Philippines) Bureau of Corrections (Philippines)
Prisons	New Bilibid Prison Davao Prison and Penal Farm Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) (CPDRC Dancing Inmates) Correctional Institution for Women Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm

Law enforcement in the Philippines
National Bureau of Investigation National Counter-Terrorism Action Group Philippine Coast Guard Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Philippine National Police Tanods Bantay Dagat

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