Manila: A separate facility inside the national penitentiary is being eyed by the government for construction amid reports that rich inmates had been corrupting prison officials into allowing them more privileges.

According to Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, separating high profile inmates with drugs and other criminal cases from the general prison population would enable authorities at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) to better monitor prisoners who continue to commit criminal activities even while in jail.

Reports by a government-run news agency quoted De Lima as saying that the budget department would be setting aside P30 million (Dh2.4 million) for the renovation of one of the idle buildings inside the NBP in suburban Muntinlupa City for housing the high-risk drug inmates.

Just before dawn last Monday, Department of Justice agents, backed by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), swooped down on a facility housing high-profile inmates inside the NBP compound. Government operatives were able to seize banned items inside the facility including drugs, assault rifles, pistols, cash as well as electronic communication gadgets and other items such as sex dolls, a Jacuzzi and sauna machine.

The authorities likewise took into custody 19 inmates who either have drug cases or were jailed for offences such as robbery. Most of the rich inmates are Chinese or Filipino-Chinese.

Authorities also said that the raid had resulted in the dismantling of an elaborate drug-trading network inside the most tightly guarded prison facilities in the country.

Some of the drug dealers, despite being in prison, continue to engage in their illegal activities and had even expanded their network. Authorities disclosed that the illicit activities inside the prison would not be possible without the knowledge of prison guards.

On Tuesday, 19 of the inmates were temporarily moved from NBP, to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) detention facility in Manila where they can be more strictly monitored.

“We hope that these inmates would be more tightly monitored when they are moved from the NBI detention cells back to the new facility in Bilibid that would be constructed to house them,” said De Lima.

In a press briefing in Malacanang last Tuesday, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said President Benigno Aquino III has given De Lima specific instructions to stop all abuses and criminal activities in NBP.

The directive is expected to result in the dismissal of several Bureau of Jail Management and Penology officials, including those assigned to the NBP.

Coloma also said the President is worried about the proliferation of firearms in the NBP, which is why De Lima was given a directive to investigate and carry out reforms at the national penitentiary.

Providing privileges to rich inmates has long-been a problem at the NBP. In the past, jailed former lawmakers were given special favours such as permission to install televisions, karaoke machines, air conditioning and other luxuries on the condition that the facility would benefit other prisoners. In fact, one former inmate, ex-congressman, Romeo Jalosjos, spent millions of pesos to construct a swimming pool inside the NBP compound.

Observers said that the special prison treatment at the NBP highlights the inequalities of the Philippine society, where the rich continue to enjoy more privileges even inside the penitentiary where they are supposed to pay for their misdeeds. Likewise, such system underscores the fact that some inmates “are more equal than others” and frowns upon the penal system in general.