House OKs bill seeking establishment of jail facility for high-level offenders

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the bill seeking the establishment of a separate jail facility for high-level offenders.

With 222 affirmative votes, House Bill 10355 or the proposed Separate Facility for High-Level Offenders Act was approved during the plenary session.

The measure defines high-level offenders as those individuals convicted of heinous crimes and identified by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general as high-risk or high-profile, taking into consideration the offense for which the inmate is convicted, criminal record or history of the inmate, and the affiliations.

The bill seeks to establish and maintain a separate, secured and sanitary penitentiary for the custody of high-level offenders serving sentence in the facilities of the BuCor.

Under the bill, the Justice chief is mandated to determine the location of the facility and this should be isolated from the general population and other inmates.

The measure noted that it would be better if the facility is situated within a military establishment or on an island separate from the mainland.

It also said Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao should have separate facilities.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier suggested that those considered high-level drug traffickers and other heinous criminals should be separated from other convicts by creating a jail facility just for them.  —VBL, GMA News