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New Bilibid Prison

The growing urbanization of Manila and pressure from conservative groups prompted the Philippine government to build a new national prison in Muntinlupa to replace the overcrowded Old Bilibid Prison. In 1940, all inmates were transferred to the new New Bilibid Prison site, which had the capacity for 3,000 prisoners. Over the decades, New Bilibid Prison expanded its facilities and security measures to accommodate the increasing prison population, including constructing new camps for minimum and medium security prisoners. Today it continues to house various classes of inmates, and foreign-funded rehabilitation programs have been established within the facility.

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365 views2 pages

New Bilibid Prison

The growing urbanization of Manila and pressure from conservative groups prompted the Philippine government to build a new national prison in Muntinlupa to replace the overcrowded Old Bilibid Prison. In 1940, all inmates were transferred to the new New Bilibid Prison site, which had the capacity for 3,000 prisoners. Over the decades, New Bilibid Prison expanded its facilities and security measures to accommodate the increasing prison population, including constructing new camps for minimum and medium security prisoners. Today it continues to house various classes of inmates, and foreign-funded rehabilitation programs have been established within the facility.

Uploaded by

Sintas Ng Sapatos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

NEW BILIBID PRISON

NEW BILIBID PRISON (NBP):


The projected increase in
the prison population
prompted the government to
plan and develop a new site
for the national
penitentiary. The growing
urbanization of Manila and
constant lobbying by
conservative groups fueled
the idea of transferring
the Old Bilibid Prison to a
new site, which at the time
was considered remote and
on the outskirts of the
urban center. Accordingly, Commonwealth Act No. 67 was
enacted, appropriating one million pesos for the construction of a new
national prison in Muntinlupa. On November 15, 1940, all inmates of
the Old Bilibid Prison in Manila were transferred to the new site.
The new institution had a capacity of 3,000 prisoners and it was
officially named the New Bilibid Prison on January 22, 1941. The
prison reservation had an area of 587 hectares, part of which was
arable. The prison compound proper had an area of 300 x 300 meters or
a total of nine hectares. It was surrounded by three layers of
barbed wire.
T h e i n s t i
�?0s and continues to be
so. The camp houses not
only death convicts and
inmates sentenced to life
term, but also those with
numerous pending cases,
multiple convictions, and
sentences of more than 20
years.
A f t e r W o r l d
inventory and it was used
to improve the security
fence. In the late �?0s, fences were further reinforced with concrete
slabs. In the 1980s, the height of the concrete wall was increased and
another facility was constructed, 2.5 kilometers from the
main building. This became known as Camp Sampaguita or the Medium
Security Camp.
On January 22, 1941 the electric chair was transferred to New
Bilibid Prison. The death chamber was constructed in the rear area of
the camp when the mode of execution was through electrocution. Today,
it is a security zone where those convicted of drug offenses are held.
The NBP expanded with the construction of new security
facilities. These were the Medium Security Camp, which was used as a
military stockade during martial law and the Minimum-Security Camp,
whose first site was christened Bukang Liwayway. This was transferred
to another site within the reservation where the former depot was
situated.
The increase in the prison population has affected the
segregation system. Several foreign funded projects dot the prison
reservation, among them, the Half-Way House and the Juvenile Training
Center. Both projects are supported by funds from Japan through the
representation of the Interdisciplinary Committee of NAPOLCOM.

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