MANILA – Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri has proposed for an establishment of a separate “Alcatraz-like” prison facility for those convicted of heinous crimes in light of the botched release of former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez.
Under his Senate Bill 1004, Zubiri proposed for the creation of the Heinous Crimes Penitentiary, which is built in an isolated, uninhabited island, to be run by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
“Heinous crime convicts and high-risk prisoners belong to maximum security prisons in isolated and uninhabited islands, far from their victims and society at large,” the senator said. “Alcatraz-like prisons will keep us safe.”
“They suffer the punishment and we are kept safe far away from their clutches,” he added. “I propose that personnel of the Bureau build and operate several HCP facilities in several regions to be identified by the Secretary of Justice,” he said.
Alcatraz is a small rocky island in San Francisco Bay in California that used to house a top-security military and federal prison facility.
According to Zubiri, within one year after the new facilities are established, the prisoners serving their sentences in the National Bilibid Prison and other jails of the BuCor shall be transferred to the new HCP facilities most preferably in solitary confinement.
“We know recidivists and incorrigibles will claw their way out of prison if given the chance through brute force or influence. This is what faces us today. A celebrated crime’s infamous author nearly got total liberty which he does not deserve at all. Convicts like Mayor Sanchez belong to HCP,” the senator said.
Zubiri added that the capital outlay budget of the Department of Justice may have to be increased to allocate funds for the construction of maximum security facilities under the Heinous Crime Penitentiary system.
“Jails keep our society safe as we punish criminals by restricting their liberty, including totally taking away their political rights,” he said.
Sanchez was sentenced to seven counts of reclusion perpetua (up to 40 years imprisonment) for the rape and murder of University of the Philippines Los Baños student Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her companion, Allan Gomez in 1993./PN
